By Jennifer Hamilton
Associated Press

DENVER — A man fell to his death after standing up on an attraction at Six Flags Elitch Gardens amusement park, authorities said.

The death Monday came one day after a worker at Six Flags Over Georgia was killed when he wandered into the path of an upside-down roller coaster and was struck in the head by a passenger's dangling legs.

The man killed in Denver, John Garlick, 28, was taken to Denver Health Medical Center where he was pronounced dead, police said. The death was being investigated as accidental, police said.

He was killed on a pendulum ride called the "Rainbow" in which passengers sit in bench-like seats on a platform that moves up and down in a circular motion. The ride was closed immediately following the accident, but the park remained open.

The park was open Tuesday.

Park officials said in a news release that Garlick was part of a group of "mentally-challenged individuals." They said witnesses reported that he unlatched his seat belt and worked his way out of the lap bar restraint.

Park spokesman Eric Curry said he was not sure if Garlick fell before or after the ride operator hit an emergency stop button.

Officials at Six Flags Over Georgia were unsure how or why the 58-year-old foreman walked into the locked, no-access area on "Batman, The Ride" on Sunday.

Police identified the man as Samuel Milton Guyton of Atlanta. He had worked at the park since February.

In August 1997, a ride operator at Six Flags Elitch Gardens was killed when she stepped off the three-story platform next to the Sidewinder roller coaster. The park was fined more than $32,000 by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which said not enough was done to protect the worker.

Elitch Gardens opened in Denver in 1890. It was purchased by Premier Parks in 1996 for $65 million. The park's name was changed to Six Flags Elitch Gardens in 1998 when Premier Parks bought the Six Flags chain.

May 29, 2002

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