GREENDALE, Wis. (WISN) - First responders raced to help a 6-year-old girl who fell off the railing of a second-floor escalator at a Wisconsin mall.
The incident happened around 7 p.m. last Tuesday night at Southridge Mall in Greendale. Rubber Handrail Grips For Escalators
Police say a 6-year-old girl, her father and her stepmother had gotten off the escalator going towards Champs Sports.
Police interviewed the father who said he heard his daughter say, “Hey, look what I can do.” He didn’t look until they were five to seven steps ahead. The girl was gripping the elevator railing, “supermanning” it.
When the girl was told to let go, the railing started to move, and she fell to the first floor below.
Riley Zacharias, who was working at the mall, was shocked as she witnessed the incident.
“Out of the side of my eye, I saw what looked like a coat fall off the escalator, but then I heard a big ‘slap’ noise onto the ground. Then, I saw parents from the side of Champs come running down the escalators,” Zacharias said.
Police say the 6-year-old was released from the hospital last week. While she was at the hospital, the girl told officers she had pain in her back and arm but didn’t remember the fall.
Zacharias is relieved the girl survived.
“It was kind of scary. The first couple of nights, I kept thinking about it, but it’s getting better now,” she said.
According to the police report, a surveillance camera that pans back and forth in the mall showed the moments before and after the fall. The report indicates the incident is believed to be an accident.
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