Mark Johnson, Florida killed by falling elevator, remembered as ‘great family man’
Described as both shocking and heartbreaking, the TradeWinds Resort on St. Pete Beach is the scene of bizarre accident which left a man dead.
Mark Allen Johnson, father of two, was crushed to death by an elevator while performing maintenance Wednesday morning. His upper body was crushed, say officials.
St. Pete Beach Fire Marshal Ernie Hand told 10 News, “It’s a dangerous job working on elevators, when you have to be under any type of object that can move.”
The president and chief operating officer of the TradeWinds, Keith Overton, said he’s deeply saddened by the accident. “Our hearts go out to the Johnson family. We feel so heartbroken for them. We don’t know what went wrong.”
“Great, great dad and a great family man,” said Brad Iturriaga to WTSP, Mark Johnson’s cousin. “He’s got two younger boys, he worked really hard to have a place for them.”
The accident happened when Johnson, age 45, was vacuuming oil and water out of the elevator shaft at the Jacaranda Beach Villas on the TradeWinds property.
Officials say Johnson was laying on his belly to clean the the elevator shaft and vacuum the area.
The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office said the elevator was immobilized on the second floor.
Photo supplied, cropped
