Mayor apologizes for jest following fatal accident

Monday, Jan. 3, 2000 | 11 a.m.

Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman apologized Sunday for comments he had made on local television early Saturday morning chiding revelers who climbed light poles on the Strip minutes after one of those climbers fell to his death.

Goodman and the KLAS-TV Channel 8 anchor reporters interviewing him appeared unaware of the incident in which Todd Surmon, a 26-year-old Menlo Park, Calif., man, fell to his death from a light pole shortly before midnight.

"Every once in a while you see some jerk climb up on a light pole or something and you pray that he is going to fall over, but they don't seem to for some reason," Goodman joked to Channel 8 viewers at 12:18 a.m. Saturday. "They manage to slide down and that's the miracle tonight."

Meanwhile KVBC-TV Channel 3 was airing breaking accounts of the year's first death on the Strip.

On Sunday Goodman said that while climbing poles is "a foolish thing," his "heart goes out to the family of the man who fell."

"I had no idea he had fallen off," Goodman said of his comment -- noting that he was being facetious with his "pray for" remark to drive home a point about the dangers of such actions.

"I had seen two or three different fellows do it that night, and they slid down safely. Each time I said this could lead to a tragedy. It is a foolish thing to do, but when there is a tragedy, you feel sorry."

Goodman said that for next New Year's Eve officials may look into devices that prevent people from climbing to the top of poles. The light pole incident took place outside the city's jurisdiction.

Just prior to Goodman's comment, a Channel 8 cameraman showed another reveler walking along a traffic signal arm extending over Las Vegas Boulevard.

Meanwhile, Channel 3 reporter Bob DeCosta was informing his viewers about the details of Surmon's death. He interviewed an eyewitness who said he believed Surmon could have been saved if his friends below had caught him.

The station a short time later presented home videotape footage taken by a Strip reveler of Surmon as he was climbing the light pole.

The station, however, opted not to show Surmon grabbing the wires atop the pole and falling to his death. A Channel 3 anchor told viewers beforehand they would not show footage of the man falling.

The video showed Surmon reaching the top of the pole, hugging the light fixture and raising one of his arms in victory.