BURBANK : NBC Worker Hurt by Electric Cart

A man run over by the electric cart he had been driving on the NBC lot in Burbank was in stable condition Monday at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center.

Eleazar Ruiz, 29, an NBC maintenance worker, was driving the cart Friday morning when the accelerator started to stick, according to Sgt. Bob Brode of the Burbank Police Department.

“He walked out in front of the cart to try and repair it and somehow the cart drove over him,” Brode said.

The injured Ruiz was sighted through the lot fence by an unidentified passerby, who ran to get help, Brode said. Ruiz suffered a third-degree burn on one of his legs, plus head injuries and cuts from the 1,000-pound cart.

After being examined at the scene by a doctor summoned from nearby St. Joseph Medical Center, Ruiz was taken to the trauma center at County-USC Medical Center. A spokesman for the hospital said that Ruiz, who lives in Los Angeles, is expected to undergo surgery on his injured leg.