Stagehand dead after 60′ fall where Coachella Music Fest to be held

INDIO — A stagehand died this morning, Saturday, April 6, after falling about 60 feet from the stage area of the Empire Polo Club, site of the 2019 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. The festival is scheduled to begin Friday, April 12 and end on Sunday, April 21.

At least one witness has since reported to TMZ the rigger did not appear to have a safety harness properly tethered to a cable when they slipped and fell to their death.

LEADING THE RCNS HEADLINES:

BREAKING: CHP at scene of fatal Hemet crash

2 adults & 2 boys hospitalized after San Jacinto “T-Bone” crash

Delivery driver sideswipes Hemet phone pole, takes out light standard

Emergency personnel were alerted to the fatal workplace accident at Avenue 50 and Monroe St. around 9:30 a.m., after receiving reports of a person who fell while working on the festival’s stage setup, Indio police spokesman Ben Guitron later reported.

Cal Fire later posted on social media that the worker sustained “traumatic injuries” in the fall and was pronounced deceased at the scene. 

TMZ has since reported that an eyewitness at the scene said the worker was climbing the stage’s scaffolding and fell about 60 feet. However, another stagehand working at the scene later told RCNS the victim fell from a building.

Cal/OSHA has been notified and will be investigating the deadly incident.

Contact the writer: [email protected]

Trevor Montgomery, 47, moved last year to the Intermountain area of Shasta County from Riverside County and runs Riverside County News Source and Shasta County News Source. Additionally, he writes for several other news organizations; including Riverside County based newspapers, Valley News, The Valley Chronicle, and Anza Valley Outlook; as well as Bonsall/Fallbrook Village News in San Diego County and Mountain Echo in Shasta County.

Trevor spent 10 years in the U.S. Army as an Orthopedic Specialist before joining the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in 1998. He was medically retired after losing his leg, breaking his back, and suffering both spinal cord and brain injuries in an off-duty accident. (Click here to see segment of Discovery Channel documentary of Trevor’s accident.)

During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations; including Robert Presley Detention Center, Southwest Station in Temecula, Hemet/Valle Vista Station, Ben Clark Public Safety Training Center, and Lake Elsinore Station; along with other locations.

Trevor’s assignments included Corrections, Patrol, DUI Enforcement, Boat and Personal Water-Craft based Lake Patrol, Off-Road Vehicle Enforcement, Problem Oriented Policing Team, and Personnel/Background Investigations. He finished his career while working as a Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Investigator and was a court-designated expert in child abuse and child sex-related crimes.

Trevor has been married for more than 28 years and was a foster parent to more than 60 children over 13 years. He is now an adoptive parent and his “fluid family” includes 13 children and 15 – but soon to be 16 – grandchildren.

tagged with , , , , , , , ,