Janitorial worker dies after being crushed by gate at Fort Worth’s Dickies Arena
A 24-year-old janitorial worker was killed Saturday morning at Dickies Arena when an electric gate closed on him and crushed him, authorities said Monday.
The accident was reported about 7 a.m. Saturday at an entry gate at the arena, 3400 Trail Drive.
The victim was identified as Juan Carlos Julian Jr., of Fort Worth, according to the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office website on Monday.
Julian’s father dropped him off before the start of his shift at the arena Friday night, and Julian had planned to ride the bus home Saturday morning after he finished work, said Julian’s sister, Stefany Carreon.
“My friend who works with him noticed at 5 a.m. that my brother hadn’t clocked out, so she went looking for him,” Carreon said in a telephone interview with the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “She stayed there until 7 a.m. and then she went home, thinking he had already gotten a ride home.”
But Carreon’s friend went to the family’s home and Juan Julian wasn’t there.
“She remembered seeing police cars and an ambulance at the arena,” Carreon said. “But she never thought he had been in an accident.”
Julian died from traumatic asphyxia due to entrapment in the electric gate, according to a ruling by officials at the medical examiner’s office. His death was ruled an accident.
“The preliminary investigative details indicate that his death was a tragic accident,” said Fort Worth police Sgt. Chris Daniels in a Monday email to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “The results of the autopsy and the final investigative findings are pending.”
His sister said Julian had been working at the arena just a few weeks.
“Trail Drive Management Corp. is deeply saddened by the death of Juan Carlos Julian Jr., following a tragic accident that occurred at the arena in the early morning hours of Saturday, December 7,” according to a statement released by the not-for-profit agency which operates the city-owned arena. “We offer our sincere condolences to Mr. Julian’s family, friends and co-workers.”
Officials at Trail Drive Management Corp. said Julian was employed by Service First Janitorial.
“Safety is a top priority at the arena, and Trail Drive Management Corp is cooperating with local authorities as they investigate the specifics of the incident,” according to the statement from Trail Drive officials.
Trail Drive Management declined to answer specific questions about what safety measures were in place for the gate or whether there was a malfunction.
Local authorities’ investigation into Julian’s death continued on Monday.
Officials with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration also have started an investigation into the fatal incident. A report on their investigation was not available Monday.
“OSHA, by law, has up to six months to compete the investigation,” said OSHA regional spokesman Juan Rodriguez in a Monday email.
A GoFundMe account has been established to help the Julian family with funeral expenses. Funeral arrangements haven’t been made yet.
Julian was born in Fort Worth, and his family lived a few years in Mexico, but they moved back to North Texas. The 24-year-old lived with his parents. He had two sisters and a brother.
“He was always helping others, and he was hard worker,” his sister said Monday. “Oh, he loved to dance.”
On nights when Dickies Arena had an event, Julian’s father would drop him off at the arena late at night, and then another family member would pick him up about 5 a.m. the next morning.
On the weekends, Julian would take the bus home.
Carreon said Monday family members still were not sure how Julian could have been killed.
“It doesn’t make sense,” Carreon said. “He was on the outside of the gate and maybe he was trying to get back in, but we don’t know how the gate caught him like that.”
No other details on the accident have been released.
The new 14,000-seat Dickies Arena opened in late October in Fort Worth’s Cultural District.
This story was originally published December 9, 2019 at 11:13 AM.
