Washington

Amusement park operator killed as hair caught on ride

An amusement park operator was killed Saturday when his hair got caught on a roller coaster car, pulling him up as high as 40 feet before he fell, back-first, onto a fence.

Doug McKay, 40, was spraying lubricant on the tracks of the Super Loop 2, a ride at the Island County Fair on Whidbey Island, when his long hair got caught on a car full of fairgoers, sheriff’s spokeswoman Jan Smith said.

“It basically scalped him, and he fell and landed on the fence,” Smith said.

McKay, co-owner of Paradise Amusements, based in Post Falls, Idaho, was pulled between 25 and 40 feet into the air.

Paradise Amusements had set up rides at the Island County Fair, located about 30 miles northwest of Seattle, for the past three years, Smith said.

Smith said grief counselors were on hand but that the fair continued after the incident.

Colorado

Grandfather drowns rescuing 6-year-old from reservoir

A man jumped into a reservoir after his 6-year-old grandson, who had fallen in while fishing, and managed to push the boy to safety before slipping underwater and drowning.

The boy and his 8-year-old cousin ran frantically onto a highway Friday and flagged down a driver, who called 911.

“The little guy said ‘My grandpa pushed me out of the water,’ and then the older one said, ‘My grandpa went under,”‘ said the driver, Joanne Cash.

When rescuers arrived, they found Terry Ringer, 49, face down about 10 feet away from the shore and were able to pull him out of the water without help from divers, Nederland police Sgt. Steve Davis said.

“He wasn’t breathing and had no pulse when we pulled him out,” said Davis, who estimated Ringer was in the water for 15 minutes. Paramedics performed CPR, but Ringer was pronounced dead at the scene.

Cash said the younger boy told her he fell in while fishing off an outcropping of rocks at a picnic area.

New Jersey

Federal judge sets bail at $10 million in missile case

The only U.S. citizen charged in a missile-smuggling plot will be allowed to post bail, but it could take several days for him to meet the requirements set by a federal judge.

Bail for Yehuda Abraham was set Friday at $10 million. Half of that must be secured with cash and property.

Abraham, 76, a New York diamond dealer, will remain in federal custody until court officials have interviewed at least 10 friends and relatives who say they are willing to post his bond. If he is released, Abraham must remain under house arrest with electronic monitoring.

Three men are accused in a plot to smuggle shoulder-fired missiles that could shoot down a commercial airliner. They were arrested in New York and New Jersey on Tuesday after an international sting operation.

Abraham and an Indian citizen, Moinuddeen Ahmed Hameed, 38, are charged with conspiring to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business. A 68-year-old Briton, Hemant Lakhani, is charged with trying to provide material support to terrorists and dealing arms without a license.