CHICAGO – In the hours after a young boy was seriously hurt and airlifted after being thrown from an amusement ride at a summer festival last year, state inspectors almost immediately identified problems with the ride, according to reports obtained by NBC 5 Investigates.
Among the issues – malfunctioning lap bars on two seats identified through additional testing allowed the ride to still operate with the lap bars open.
What’s more – the records reveal a safety device meant to stop the ride during an emergency may have been altered, replaced and later hidden from investigators.
During the initial inspection on July 16, 2023, state ride inspectors with the Illinois Department of Labor also had to jump out of the way of the ride when it began to operate without anyone at the controls.
Taken together – they illustrate problems the ride and raise questions about its maintenance, previous inspections and if the ride should’ve been operating at all.
The new details uncovered by NBC 5 Investigates come more than 15 months after the incident and our review of more than 350 pages of police reports and inspection records related, all obtained through a series of Freedom of Information Act requests.
It makes the ride “go faster”
Using a translator, state ride inspectors interviewed the ride operator hours after the incident. He was asked about what happened with Huntley.
According to a police report, the operator said: “the accident occurred when I was slowing the ride to drop off the people.” He later said he: “heard yelling of the people at the moment I put the brake on the ride and I saw a person leave the left side of the platform and fall onto the ground. Immediately, I ran and hit the auxiliary stop to help the person.”
When asked how he stopped the ride, he pointed to a button on a control pedal.
When he was asked about an “orange foot pedal” on the ride, he told the inspectors it was designed to make the ride “go faster.”
But the inspector noted that shouldn’t be – that the foot pedal is a “dead man’s switch” meant to stop the ride and that it “should not be able to move without the foot pedal depressed.”
NBC 5 Investigates reviewed the Moby Dick’s operator’s manual, which was included in the records we sought from the state.
The manual states that in case of emergency the operator should “let go of foot pedal.” That doing so will stop the speed control and set the brake.
Three days later on July 19 – during a follow-up inspection at the property of All Around Amusement – inspectors immediately noticed anew orange foot pedal had been installed on the ride.
Inspectors found the old foot pedal in a workshop on the property – the wires were disconnected and corrosion was evident, the records state.
The owner, Robert Salerno, told inspectors “water had gotten into it” and that was “broken.”
(Photo above shows the foot switch that had been removed from the “Moby Dick” amusement ride. Obtained by NBC 5 Investigates through FOIA request)
When inspectors went to look for the original foot pedal after informing Salerno that Antioch Police were planning to serve a search warrant as part of their potential criminal investigation, Salerno informed inspectors that the original foot pedal may have been thrown out.
Inspectors later found it had been hidden in a workshop on the property, according to records by NBC 5 Investigates through FOIA requests.
(Photo shows a new safety stop foot pedal installed on the ride when inspectors say they returned three days later for a follow-up inspection at the property of All Around Amusement. According to the inspection records, the owner, Robert Salerno, said the original foot pedal was “broken.”).
“This isn’t a minor modification; this isn’t a minor change. This is a very, very serious manipulation to a system which 100 % made it unsafe,” said Tara Devine, an attorney representing the Daniels’ family.
(The Moby Dick thrill ride as photographed by Antioch Police after a boy was ejected).
It’s been more than 15 months since Huntley Daniels was ejected while riding the “Moby Dick” thrill ride while attending a summer festival with his family in Antioch – a village less than 60 miles north of Chicago.
News of Huntley’s injuries and the ride accident drew national media coverage at the time.
His family is now suing the ride owner, All Around Amusement of Lockport, Illinois, alleging negligence. Days after the incident, Antioch Police obtained a search warrant and seized the ride launching a criminal investigation.
“It’s going to be a very, very long road. He has permanent injuries as a result of this,” according to attorney Tara Devine, who represents the Daniels family.
More than 15 months later, is still recovering from his injuries – which included a broken jaw and compound fracture to his femur.
In their response to the lawsuit, All Around Amusement’s attorney blamed Huntley, saying the boy “had a duty to exercise reasonable care and caution for this own safety,” the records state.
NBC 5 Investigates reached out to Devine only after obtaining hundreds of pages of inspection reports, photographs and police records through a series of Freedom of Information Act requests.
We also reached out to All Around Amusement’s owner, Robert Salerno, and his attorney. After a brief phone conversation with Salerno’s attorney, David Bennett, we requested an interview and followed up with specific questions. Our email and subsequent phone was not returned.
When we were able to reach Salerno this week by phone, he hung up on NBC 5 Investigates. In court records and in statements to inspectors, the owner and those close to him blamed the incident on Huntley – saying he “freaked out” and was attempting to move the lap bar when he was ejected. It’s something Devine rejects and says they give “zero weight to.”
Several witnesses told Antioch Police they too had concerns about the lapbars and lack of safety checks in the days before the incident.
No one has been charged, but a copy of Antioch Police’s search warrant for the ride states they were looking into the potential of reckless conduct and obstruction.
Antioch Police told NBC 5 Investigates their records were turned over weeks ago to the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office. A spokeswoman for the Lake County State’s Attorney’s office says the matter is still under investigation.