Police Probe Criticized in Disneyland Accident

Investigators in several cities with major amusement parks say Anaheim police violated basic standards of police work on Christmas Eve when they delayed going to the site of a serious accident at Disneyland until long after park employees had cleaned up the scene and carted away the evidence.

“If there’s a serious injury out here, we are going to be there on the spot,” said Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Lt. Carl Deeley, who patrols Magic Mountain in Valencia.

Even before Anaheim police were briefed by Disney officials, amusement park workers had mopped up the scene of the accident that ultimately took the life of a tourist and maimed his wife and an employee.

Police defended their decision not to view the accident site until after Disney officials had washed away blood, moved evidence and brought witnesses for police to interview, often accompanied by a Disney official. It was an accident, not a crime scene, Anaheim police said.

But other police agencies that provide services to amusement parks said they would have raced immediately to seal off the scene, corral witnesses and probe for evidence of foul play.

“You lose a lot by not going directly to the scene,” said Santa Clara Det. Sgt. Phil Zaragoza, who recently investigated a death at Paramount’s Great America amusement park in Santa Clara. “You want to know [the workers’] state of intoxication or sobriety. What if there were sabotage? If the evidence was cleaned up, how would anyone know?”

It’s impossible to tell whether a serious incident is an accident before a full investigation, police agreed. Said Buena Park Police Sgt. Ken Coovert, whose agency covers Knott’s Berry Farm: “If there’s a death and it’s potentially due to worker error, that’s a potential manslaughter case.”

Coovert and others interviewed for this story commented before the release late Thursday of Anaheim’s police report that indicates that detectives who investigated the incident did not arrive at the park until three hours after it occurred, then spent another hour and half with Disney officials and witnesses before heading to the accident scene.

Santa Clara Sgt. Anton Morec said he was unfamiliar with Anaheim’s policies, but that most agencies immediately would “be there aggressively investigating the scene. You’re taking control of the information. You’re not allowing them to spoon-feed you. Maybe Anaheim has a special relationship with Disney. Maybe they trust their security. Obviously there’s a comfort zone.”

Anaheim Police Chief Supports His Detectives

The Disneyland accident was attributed in the coroner’s report to a worker attempting to tie up the Columbia sailing ship at dock while the boat was moving too fast, pulling off a metal cleat that struck two tourists in the head while the attached rope seriously injured the worker on the dock. The state Occupational Safety and Health Administration is continuing to investigate the accident because the Disneyland worker was involved.

The fatal incident, while ruled an accident by the coroner, has raised questions about how the Anaheim police--and Disney officials--reacted.

“You need to have an independent investigation that would be uninfluenced by Disney,” said Morec. “Maybe the worker was under the influence, maybe the maintenance records indicate this cleat was due for maintenance two weeks earlier. You treat it as a crime scene until you know otherwise.”

Anaheim Police Chief Randall W. Gaston supported the actions of his detectives Thursday, saying it is “usually counterproductive to rush directly to the scene.”

Gaston said it was the decision of his seasoned lieutenant at the scene to stay in Disney’s security office to question people “who had knowledge of what transpired” instead of heading first to where the accident occurred.

“The detective on the scene didn’t think there would be any additional information to be gained by rushing to the scene,” he said. Paramedics had summoned patrol officers to the scene when it became clear one of the victims might die.

As it turned out, Luan Phi Dawson, 33, of Duvall, Wash., died two days later of a brain hemorrhage and skull fracture. His wife, Lieu Thuy Vuong, 43, underwent surgery for facial disfigurement. The Disneyland employee, Christine Carpenter, 30, underwent surgery for her badly lacerated foot.

Much of the accident scene, Gaston said, had already been cleaned up by the time detectives arrived and Disneyland had moved and “safeguarded the equipment [including the cleat] by necessity” to keep visitors from seeing the scene.

But, he added, “we were able to inspect all the apparatus that was involved. . . . No item that would have been of evidential value had been tampered with or was missing.”

Despite the cleaned-up accident site, Gaston said his detectives conducted a thorough investigation, documenting the scene and taking numerous measurements to reconstruct what happened. He said he is confident that his investigators would not have missed any evidence of sabotage or foul play.

A ride operator at the park who asked to remain anonymous described Disney employees starting to clean up the area within 10 minutes after the accident. A custodial supervisor was seen wiping down the rafters, where there was blood. Disney officials say they cleaned up the area because it was unsightly for park-goers.

Gaston said he would not advise Disney to refrain from cleaning up accident sites in the future, saying such things must be judged on “a case-by-case” basis. “You really have to make a judgment at the scene. What is the incident? Where did it happen? What are we talking about in terms of evidential value?”

Gaston said the incident had been reported as an accident, and, in fact, ruled by the coroner as an accident and that his department had been “if anything, overly cautious in investigating.”

‘Always a Chance of Contamination’

But other police agencies said they treat every major accident, despite what park officials say, as a potential crime scene and that park officials are not qualified to judge whether criminal activity has occurred or what evidence is significant. Crucial evidence, they said, can be trampled or lost when inexperienced people tromp through a scene.

“One of the worst things you can do is go to a potential crime scene thinking it’s an accident, having that mindset, “ said Santa Clara’s Zaragoza.

“To have Disneyland employees pick up evidence and later show it to police--there’s always a chance of contamination,” added Morec. “Even if it’s probably noncriminal in nature, you don’t know that until you eliminate it as a crime scene.”

And Zaragoza said it’s important that trained police investigators be the first to question witnesses, not park officials, however well-meaning.

“We prefer not to have people’s thought processes tainted in any way by outside suggestion,” he said. In addition, it “removes the stigma of conflict of interest. The community deserves an independent investigation.”

The investigators said they have handled such cases quite differently.

In September, for example, a 24-year-old man was killed at Paramount’s Great America amusement park in Santa Clara after he jumped a 6-foot wire fence to retrieve his cap from under a roller coaster ride. He died after being struck by the legs of a coaster rider.

Morec said the scene was immediately cordoned off and homicide detectives were summoned. Both the ride operator and the victim were tested for alcohol and drugs and the equipment was examined for defects, Morec said.

“This situation turned out to be a freak accident, but we didn’t know until we investigated,” he said.

Los Angeles County sheriff’s investigators who patrol both Magic Mountain and Universal Studios and CityWalk said they are dispatched with paramedics for any major accident. The department has a substation at the CityWalk and deputies carry Universal’s security radios.

Sheriff’s Sgt. Mike Laperruque, whose substation patrols Universal Studios and CityWalk, said if an accident occurred at Universal Studios, “our first job would be to go there and contain the location--put up a perimeter . . . and make sure no one touches the operation.”

Disney spokesman Ray Gomez said Disney in no way impeded Anaheim investigators’ “full and immediate access to the scene.”

But he declined to address whether Disney workers should have cleaned up the accident scene and moved evidence before police investigators arrived.

“I’m just not going to get into any of that at this point,” he said. “We’re in the middle of an investigation. We’re looking at what happened here, at all aspects.”

Gomez said Disney officials have not decided yet whether they will make the results of their investigation into the accident public.

Jay Siegel, associate director of criminal justice at Michigan State University, said Anaheim’s tactics in the aftermath of the accident are fairly common when a popular and powerful company like Disney is involved.

“You’ve got a large company with a large security force. Unless there is some strong evidence that a crime has been committed, then the police--for public relations or political reasons--allow the company to handle it largely themselves,” Siegel said. “It’s the recognition of reality over the best possible police work. I think it’s realistic. I don’t think it’s good.”

Staff writer E. Scott Reckard contributed to this report.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Disneyland Death

A fatal Disneyland accident on Christmas Eve sprayed a swath of metal debris across the dock of the sailing ship Columbia, accoridng to police reports released Thursday. Where the evidence fell:

(chart)

What Happened When

Anaheim police waited nearly 4 1/2 hours Christmas Eve before investigating the scene of a deadly Disneyland accident, according to records released Thursday. A timeline of events:

10:40 a.m.: Accident occurs as ship docks

10:50 a.m.: Paramedics arrive at dock

11:23 a.m.: First officer arrives at security office

3:05 p.m.: Officers investigate dock accident scene

Sources: Anaheim Police Capt. Steve Sain; Anaheim Fire Department

Graphics reporting by BRADY MacDONALD and E. SCOTT RECKARD / Los Angeles Times