Jacksonville

Jacksonville Man Hospitalized After Getting Caught in Fair Ride

Once freed from the ride, 28-year-old Davontai Lee was rushed to the hospital to receive treatment for his injuries

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A ride operator was injured after being caught in a ride at the Clay County Fair on Friday night in Jacksonville, according to NBC affiliate WLTV-TV.

The operator is 28-year-old Davontai Lee.

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Officials responded to the fair, helping the trapped man slide out of the ride. Police said he was trapped for about 15 minutes.

Once freed, he was rushed to the hospital to receive treatment for his injuries.

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The man trapped was one of several operators working on the ride.

Law enforcement said he was trying to retrieve someone's property and was caught in the ride due to bad timing.

“The man went down to get another person's hat and I guess the floors or whatever had went down on him and pinned him in," said Keirra Peterson, daughter of Aurelia Smith, the woman who recorded the incident on her phone.

Peterson said you could hear Lee crying for help.

“I didn’t really expect that, I never thought that since that boy the other week that fell off that ride. I didn’t think I would experience another ride misfunction," said Peterson.

Peterson references the recent incident in Orlando when a 14-year-old teen boy fell to his death from a ride at ICON Park.

That ride has since been deemed an "immediate serious danger to public health," state officials said in an order closing the ride.

Additionally, with the boy being only 14 but already 6 feet, 5 inches tall and well over 300 pounds, lawyers for his family want to know if negligence about his size, or other factors, played a role.

The Clay County Fair ride is still up and functioning, as there were allegedly no problems with the function of the ride.

However, police say this is still an active investigation.

Lee declined to do an interview with First Coast News but he tells us he is still in pain and in shock.

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