A Tampa woman's family says she was thrown from a Florida State Fair ride Sunday, and now the alleged incident is under investigation.
People go to the fair to have fun, eat fried food, see the animals, and certainly ride the rides, but that fun turned into fright for Brenda Garcia on Sunday night.
Garcia's family said she was thrown from a ride called the Hit in 2000 at about 8 p.m. Sunday. A friend said the latch bar opened, and Garcia, 21, was thrown out of the car and into a crowd of people waiting in line.
Garcia and her family will not talk to Bay News 9 on camera, on advice from their attorney.
The Florida State Fair Authority did release a statement about the incident.
"The safety of fairgoers is our number one priority," a spokesperson said. "We are aware of an injury to an adult female that occurred around 8:00pm on Sunday February 8th at the location of the Hit In 2000 ride. The ride was shut down immediately and is undergoing inspection by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services."
We contacted the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and a spokesperson said the ride is back open except for the car Garcia was riding in.
The incident is still under investigation.
The Garcias are not talking on camera but Bay News 9 did talked to Garcia's father, Orlando, on his front porch Monday. He said his daughter is pretty banged up. Our crew also saw her face and reports bruising and scratches.
Bay News 9 also contacted Hillsborough County Fire Rescue to see if crews responded to the incident and had a report.
A spokesperson said since they are contracted privately through the state fair, the state fair authority has to release that information, and a spokesperson said they are not doing that.