Philadelphia man says he was hurt while riding the El Toro roller coaster at Six Flags Great Adventure.
NEWARK -- A Philadelphia man is suing Six Flags Great Adventure and its corporate parent, charging that he was injured when a roller coaster rider's flying cell phone smashed into his face.
The lawsuit, filed this week in federal court, alleges that Evan Huzinec of Philadelphia was injured while riding the El Toro roller coaster on July 5, 2014.
The cell phone that hit him, it says, was dropped by another, unnamed rider on the roller coaster, which Six Flags' web site says reaches nearly 19 stories, drops 176 feet at a 76-degree angle and hits 70 mph along the way.
A spokeswoman for Six Flags, Nancy Krejsa, senior vice president for Investor Relations and Corporate Communications, said the company does not comment on litigation.
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According to the lawsuit, Huzinec suffered "serious and permanent" damage to his eye, including loss of vision in his right eye, a fracture to the orbital socket limiting movement of the eye, a traumatic cataract and other injuries.
The lawsuit charges that Six Flags was negligent in failing to train and supervise employees properly about the danger of people using cell phones while riding the roller coaster and failing to protect passengers from such dangers.
In addition, the lawsuit says Huzinec reported the accident at the time to Six Flags staff. However, video surveillance tapes, the cell phone and written reports identifying the individual who dropped the device were not preserved, it says, depriving him of evidence for his complaint.
Huzinec is seeking in excess of $75,000 in damages.
Tim Darragh may be reached at tdarragh@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @timdarragh. Find NJ.com on Facebook.