By Mike Taylor – Calaveras Enterprise
Almost a year after an incident sent riders crashing to the ground when the Yo-Yo ride collapsed at the Calaveras County Fair, the carnival operator is suing the state of California over its response to the incident.
The Enterprise learned of the lawsuit in a phone conversation with representatives of the California Department of Industrial Relations Division of Occupational Safety and Health Amusement Ride Unit about specifics in the unit’s report on the ride collapse issued March 13 of this year.
Questions concerning conclusions made in the report were asked because some of them did not appear to match the body of the report, which laid blame for the May 16, 2008, Yo-Yo collapse on the failure of a locking mechanism for the ride’s lift arms. Other conclusions suggest the carnival operator, Harry Mason, owner of Mid-way of Fun, doing business as Brass Ring Amusements, kept poor records on employee training and the ride’s operation and maintenance.