Georgia man dies in utility vehicle accident helping take down tent after Super Bowl

WSBTV.com News Staff
·1 min read
2

Family members have identified a Georgia man who died after an UTV gator dragged him near State Farm Stadium in Arizona.

Shawn Lee, 44 of Rossville, died in the accident on Feb. 18. Glendale police say Lee was taking down a tent while wearing a safety harness attached to a utility vehicle parked beneath the tent. Another worker, who didn’t realize Lee was attached to the vehicle began to drive off.

Lee was pulled from the tent and dragged behind the UTV without the driver realizing.

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It’s unclear how long Lee was dragged for. The Maricopa County Medical Examiner’s Office said Lee died of blunt force trauma and ruled his death an accident.

Channel 2′s ABC affiliate NewsChannel 9 in Chattanooga reported that Lee traveled to Arizona to help set up and take down tents for the Super Bowl.

“Shawn was very kindhearted, loved and respected everyone. He was a huge Georgia Bulldogs baseball and football fan. Loved to fish and be outdoors. My Uncle Shawn was proud of his family, he loved us very much and made sure we knew every opportunity he had,” Lee’s niece wrote in a statement to the TV station.

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Lee’s employer Chattanooga Tents provided the following statement to WTVC.

“We can confirm that we recently lost a valuable member of our work family. Standard Human Resource policies, and our interest in respecting the privacy of our employees and their families, prevent us from publicly announcing the name of that (or any) employee, or providing any details about the employee or the ongoing investigation into his tragic death.

At this time, we remain focused on aiding the family of the deceased and our employees with support through our Employee Assistance Program. We are also offering grief counseling and assisting our former employee’s family with making the necessary arrangements.

As a community-based, family-owned company that has been in business for more than 80 years, our team is truly family. The safety of each and every member of our team is -- and always has been -- our top priority and we pride ourselves in going above and beyond in complying with all safety requirements and regulations. We appreciate the efforts of the first responders who were on-site and are continuing to cooperate closely with investigators as part of our commitment to both our employees and our community. Again, we wish to extend our deepest condolences to the family of the deceased.”

Police say they do not expect to file any charges relating to Lee’s death.

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