BROWNSVILLE, Texas (CN) - A bowling alley's pin-setting machine strangled a worker to death by snaring his shirt, his parents claim in a $1 million lawsuit.
Vidal Garcia was strangled at work on March 5. Garcia, 29, was a Navy veteran and a student at the University of Texas at Brownsville.
His parents say the machine at Galaxy Bowling Center was "defective in that it lacked necessary guarding" that would have prevented his death.
Vidal Garcia kept a low profile and attended classes at the University of Texas at Brownsville, according to his obituary and Action News 4, a CBS station.
"He was very quiet, you know, but he was very nice, very nice," bowling alley manager Corina Gallegos told the station a few days after his death.
His friend Gus Hernandez said Vidal was loyal and kind and "he loved his motorcycle."
Vidal's parents, Maria Paz Garcia and Simeon Garcia, sued Galaxy Bowling and the machine manufacturer, seller and installer on Aug. 19 in Cameron County Court.
They blame machine maker QubicaAMF Worldwide, installer Ted Wells and his employer Yager Bowling Services for not installing a "guarding accessory" on the contraption.
They seek more than $1 million for funeral expenses, mental anguish, loss of consortium, wrongful death, negligence, product liability and intentional injury.
They are represented by Michael Cowen of Brownsville.
Neither Galaxy Bowling nor QubicaAMF responded to requests for comment. Yager Bowling Services went out of business in September 2014, according to Indiana business records.Also sued is Mulbro Mfg. & Service Co., a New Jersey business that sold the machine to Galaxy Bowling.
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