DENVER – The family of a man who fell to his death after a Denver Broncos game at Sports Authority Field at Mile High is suing the stadium district and other corporations, including Bowlen Sports Inc.
The wrongful death lawsuit was filed in Denver District Court on Tuesday on behalf of his widow, Leslie, and her five children by Windsor attorney James Bramer.
The lawsuit was filed a year after Jason Coy, 36, plummeted 60 feet to his death when he fell over a railing as he tried to leave the premises.
Coy was exiting the stadium after the Denver Broncos played the Houston Texans on Oct. 24, 2016, when he lost his balance and fell from the fire-escape stairs, dropping through an open stairwell chase and striking his head and body before landing on the concrete floor.
Coy suffered blunt force injuries to his head, skull, neck and torso after the fall and died the next day.
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The lawsuit states the fire escape was not built with uniform railings and steps and “presented an unreasonable risk of injury to patrons using the staircase structure."
The document, obtained by Denver-based KMGH, goes on further, stating the stadium “contained a defective, unsafe, non-obvious and dangerous condition in a fire escape corridor and staircase."
It goes on to blame the stadium district and the other entities for failing to recognize “the inherent risk of serious injury or death to patrons in maintaining an improperly protected staircase adjacent to an unprotected vault inside the fire escape corridor structure.”
The lawsuit seeks compensation for Coy’s lost wages as well as the pain and suffering of his family after his death.
At the time of his death, Coy's children were between 6 months and 11-years-old.
This isn't the first time a fan has fallen and sustained injury at the stadium.
Fans were injured at falls at the stadium in September 2015 and August 2013. In the Sept. 2015 incident, police said a drunk fan was chasing a friend's hat when he tried to jump between two stairwell landings at Sports Authority Field and fell several stories. In the August 2013 incident, a fan fell from an escalator during a pre-season game.
KMGH reached out to stadium officials about the pending litigation. A stadium official told KMGH Liz Gelardi they had no comment. The attorney representing the family said the family is still devastated by Coy's death.
