Jumping suspected in elevator accident

A Bellevue police report on a fatal elevator accident says a 230-pound man may have caused the elevator to stall by jumping in it.

The report released Tuesday shed more light on the accident that killed a 25-year-old Kirkland man last month.

Jeremy Lynn Johnson died Feb. 20 as he tried to escape from a stalled elevator in the Lincoln Square parking garage. He and four friends pried open the doors and then attempted to lower themselves to the parking-garage floor. His friends made it out safely, but he misjudged where his feet should land and fell down the shaft, the report says.

The report says the group — three men and two women — had had some drinks at McCormick & Schmick's in Lincoln Square and were on their way to their cars in the garage.

One survivor told police more than a week after the accident that one of the men, who weighs about 230 pounds, may have caused the elevator to stall by jumping, according to the report. She said she didn't think the man was trying to get the elevator to stall.

Less than 20 minutes after calling for help on an intercom, the group was prying the doors open to get out, according to the report. One man said he had once been stuck in an elevator for two hours and didn't want to wait, according to the report. The group became "antsy," the man told police.

The first four people slid on their stomachs through a small opening and dropped safely to the parking-garage floor. Some of the men had to keep the doors propped open.

Johnson slid out on his stomach and fell straight down the shaft, the report says.

The state Department of Labor and Industries is investigating what caused the elevator to stall, and how the group was able to get the doors open.