LOCAL : Elevator Operator Crushed

A woman who operated a manual freight elevator in the aging Hall of Justice downtown was crushed to death today when the elevator suddenly lurched downward as she was trying to close its doors, authorities said.

Doris T. Sims, 64, a county employee since 1982, suffered massive head injuries when she became trapped between the elevator and the 10th floor of the building, Sheriff’s Deputy Rich Erickson said.

The old-fashioned glass-door elevators are manually operated and hinged like ordinary doors, opening outward instead of sliding like modern elevators, Erickson said.

There are no inner doors to the elevator, so as it moves up and down, the walls of the shaft are exposed to the occupants.

Sims was trying to close the doors tightly at 6:50 a.m., when the elevator mechanism suddenly engaged, causing the elevator to move down, Erickson said. She was crushed in a one-foot gap between the doors and elevator, he said.