Video: 7 hurt by runaway cart at Cowboys Stadium

The Houston Chronicle

ARLINGTON, Texas — Seven people suffered minor injuries when a runaway electric cart raced unmanned from an end zone to midfield and plowed into them after Saturday's final state championship football game at Cowboys Stadium.

The incident happened after Dekaney beat Cibolo Steele 34-14 to win the Class 5A Division II championship.

Of the seven treated for minor injuries at the stadium, one man was taken to a nearby hospital for a precautionary examination, Arlington Fire Lt. Darrel Whitfield said Sunday.

Jerry Woodley, a longtime Houston sports journalist who does the College Sports Report for the community newspaper A King-Size View, said Sunday that the incident is still a blur, but he is in good spirits and doing fine.

He was transported by ambulance to Arlington Memorial Hospital, where X-rays showed he didn't suffer any broken bones. He was released from the hospital early Sunday morning on crutches with a badly bruised foot and a sprained ankle.

The cart also toppled Dekaney coach Willie Amendola, who was being interviewed near the midfield Cowboys star logo with several other people clustered near him moments after the game. Hundreds of people were scattered about the field or were in the stands at the time.

Broadcast footage showed a stunned Amendola falling backward into the cart's passenger seat as it continued rolling. He appeared to try in vain to gain control of the cart, spinning the steering wheel with his left hand, before rolling out onto the artificial turf. As he tumbled out, a pursuing field worker hopped aboard and stopped the cart quickly.

Others were seen on the ground afterward as emergency personnel rushed up, including one man sprawled motionless while someone cradled his head. Nearby, others helped a visibly stunned man to his feet.

It was unclear why or how the cart began moving under its own power. Stadium workers were picking up fluorescent orange sideline yard markers and pylons in one of the end zones after the game when the cart unexpectedly took off.

Copyright 2011 The Houston Chronicle Publishing Company

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