A 24-year old man has died after a 3-story, 60-foot fall inside of Lincoln Square early this morning at 1:30 AM. The fall was reportedly from the top escalator.
Lt. Marsha Harnden of the Bellevue Police Department reported that the man was sitting on the escalator handrail.
“It would appear to be an accident. I don’t think he realized how high up he was,” Harnden said.
Our thoughts go out to the man’s friends & family.
Please everybody be safe this New Year’s Eve.
Sad. Cant help but wonder if he was intoxicated.
Hope they do something about that area. Always thought it was horribly unsafe and something like this happening was just a matter of time. Shame on the building owner. Condolences to the family.
@Toad37 I wouldn’t be so quick to blame the building owner, there are so many escalators like this throughout the country. In fact Nordstrom Bellevue has almost the same setup.
@Michael I live in downtown and have used that escalator many times. It has always given my the chills. Very sad and upset this has happened. I mean c’mon, there is a bar/nightclub 30 feet away.
@Toad37 I’m not sure Lincoln Sq was ever built with the thought of how lively the nightlife scene has become. There are probably some modifications that could be made with that in mind. I just don’t believe it was there fault.
Very sad incident.
@Toad37 Tragic, but let’s stop with being all politically correct. If the guy was using the escalator as intended instead of sitting on a handrail this would never have happened. At 24 I am sure he knew the proper way to ride an escalator. Let’s stop blaming the building owner for negligence and start looking at the person who really did the wrong doing which is the guy who died. The building owner could install glass panels to keep people in, but then someone would crash through and say it should have been steel. No amount of money spent can stop stupid or drunk people from doing stupid things forever and eventually some of them will die from it. This is just life.
The guy was sitting on the railing and fell backwards. What could Lincoln square possibly have done about that. It was 1:30 in the morning so chances are he had been drinking. Heart goes out to the family for their loss. But he was he own victim and Lincoln Square is not to blame.
@John, thank you for that. Just what I was thinking.
I’m fairly certain this isn’t the first time this has happened at Lincoln Square. My girlfriend has mentioned it happening in the past… probably the same kind of thing…someone wasted and leaving The Parlor.
actually after googling… this might actually be the 4th death at Lincoln square. This one was from 2009: “a man fell to his death from the 28th floor of downtown Bellevue’s Lincoln Square tower centrally located in this affluent city near Seattle and Redmond, Washington. Seattle Post-Intelligencer writer Joseph Tartakoff posted this story on the P-I’s Microsoft Blog in today’s Seattle Tech Report, Wednesday 28, January 2008. The man, identified as Jin Chen, 22, recently accepted a position with Microsoft after completing an internship with the company.
Chen’s death comes as possibly the third death associated with Lincoln Square, one of Bellevue’s tallest buildings in the briskly growing new city known for IT businesses and software companies and high-end retail. The Seattle Times reported in February 21, 2006, about a man’s accidental fall to his death in the building’s elevator shaft in the few months after the building had opened Phase I business and retail on November 1, 2005 (“Man falls to death at Lincoln Square” by Nick Perry, Seattle Times, 21 Feb 2006). And it was reported earlier that another death happened at Lincoln Square in April 2005.”
@Dave, the 2005 one was probably during construction as I am pretty sure LS opened sometime in 2006 or 2007- so it could have been from any number of reasons other than some inherent design flaw.
Not sure about the elevator incident – but this is the first I am hearing of it.
And the guy jumping from the 28th floor balcony was a suicide.
It’s still sad, but on the other hand I am surprised there haven’t been more accidents given how many people are wasted as they leave the Parlor (for some reason it attracts that Jersey kind of crowd). They have a couple of security dudes by the door who should at least guide them to the elevator. And why on earth does that elevator from the garage not go all the way up to the top floor?!
“And why on earth does that elevator from the garage not go all the way up to the top floor?!”
To make lazy people walk a flight of stairs for once in their life.
Anyway… The Parlor is so 2008. There are half a dozen better place to go out drinking in Bellevue these days. I’m fine with the Parlor attracting Jersey Shore crowds – at least I know which place to avoid in Bellevue.
kemper freeman has no taste what so ever, turning that part of bellevue into a sketchy night scene area filled with ‘bark’ – burien, auburn, renton, kent. so much for being politically correct. kemper is horrendous. friday / saturday night that whole scene is sketchy / borderline intimidating with ZERO taste.
and my heart and prayers go out to the family, friends and poor guy who paid with his life for an accident he had. truly sad. but when there’s about 4-8 cops stationed outside those venues all night long between lucky strike and the parlor, its just trouble waiting to happen. “oh lets see, to add to the fun, lets add a 3 story escalator with 60 feet between us and the ground. I’d be SHOCKED if anything went wrong”
Has anyone ever gone to this place on a Friday and Saturday night? This is NOT normal Bellevue. It IS the wild west and the anything goes attitude is too much! Think I am kidding? Come over and visit with a walk through onFriday and Saturday night? Say arou d 1am to about 2:30am? Drunk fest and how do all these drunks get home? All those cops and security’s not just because they LIKE the night life. It is to prevent it from going too crazy, but they can’t stop everything, but the owners need to accept responsibility and take control.