The Escalator From Hell

CAMDEN, N.J. (CN) - An escalator in an Atlantic City resort snared the clothes of a visiting Englishman, "precipitously pulled (him) over the railing," left him "hanging upside down ... 40 feet above the ground," then dragged him along, dangling, the man claims in court.

And the shaken Englishman, Christopher Eades, says he was not even standing on the escalator when it snatched him.

Eades sued Revel Entertainment Group dba Revel Resort, and the fictitiously named ABC Escalator Corp., in Federal Court.

The Revel Resort is on the Boardwalk.

"Revel Restor features a huge atrium called the Ellipse which features a soaring double escalator intended to dramatically, as if in midair, whisk the clientele from the lobby floor to a mezzanine platform from which a second escalator is intended to bring the client to another level more than 40 feet above the lobby floor," Eades says in his complaint.

"These soaring escalators were intended as a fantasy aerial lift which seemed to defy the laws of physics but have turned out, in reality, to have failed its ambitious purpose, becoming instead a dangerous mechanism for physical injury."

Eades says he was a lawful guest of the Revel at around 4 a.m. on Aug. 24, 2012, standing near the place where the first escalator meets the second one.

"Plaintiff was not on the escalator at this time but was located at or near the entrance to the escalator," the complaint states.

"At the above time, place, and location, a portion of plaintiff's clothing was snared, gathered, collected, pulled, caught into the escalator apparatus.

"At that time and place, plaintiff was suddenly and precipitously pulled over the railing of the area in which he was then and there standing, hanging upside down on the outside of the said escalator where he was suspended an estimated forty (40) feet above the ground level of the lobby in Revel Resort.

"After some time hanging upside down, being dragged along the outside of the escalator mechanism, plaintiff was pulled to safety by other patrons of Revel Resort."

His left knee and leg were fractured, costing him an anticipated lifetime of pain and disability, and he lost income and suffered other injuries.

He seeks damages for negligence and gross negligence, medical expenses and pain and suffering.

He is represented by John Iannuzzi with Iannuzzi and Iannuzzi, of New York City.

(On Monday, Revel Entertainment Group and affiliates filed for bankruptcy, in New Jersey Bankruptcy Court, Camden, listing more than $1 billion in assets and liabilities.)

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