'We hit something!': Police identify man hit by roller coaster at Kings Island

MASON, Ohio (WKRC) - A man is fighting for his life after a tragic accident at Kings Island.

Arntanaro Nelson from Ohio is in critical condition after getting hit by a passing coaster in a restricted area of the park.

Local 12 spoke with an employee, who said they were at the ride when the accident happened. The employee spoke under conditions of anonymity. They said there's little the park or the employees can do if a guest wants to break the rules and go into a restricted area.

“Things aren't as important as your life. It can wait,” said the employee. “There’s a reason you’re not supposed to go back to those areas, and it isn't worth it to try and circumvent the security measures because they’re there for a purpose. It can get really dangerous really fast.”

It appears that's exactly what happened at about 8 p.m. on Wednesday at the Banshee roller coaster at Kings Island. The employee was at Banshee when Nelson, along with two children, approached the greeter at the entrance of the ride.

“They had lost their keys and said that they needed to retrieve them because they needed to leave,” said the employee. “And the person up front told them that they couldn't do that right now. That they will have to wait until the park closes, and then we can get them to you at lost and found.”

But Nelson, who appeared agitated, returned to the line and then disappeared. A few minutes later, the employee said riders returned to the station screaming.

“There were four people on the front row, and two of them had a bunch of cuts and scrapes on their legs, and one had blood on his face,” said the employee. “Sometimes people get nosebleeds on the rides because of the loops and everything, so it’s not too uncommon. They said, ‘We hit something, we hit something, we hit something!’ And we were like, ‘What did you hit? What did you hit?’ They said, ‘We think it’s an animal; we think it’s an animal. Maybe a deer or something.’ We said, ‘Are you sure?’ and they said, ‘Yeah, something like that.'"

A Kings Island spokesperson said that riders did not return to the station with cuts, scrapes or blood on them. That was based on statements collected from ride operators shortly after the incident and a review of the video footage in the ride station. There were no other reported injuries.

Local 12 isn't saying that this employee was working the ride at the time of the incident, only that they were there. Either way, this person has intimate knowledge of the ride, saying that where the impact occurred, the ride reaches about 68 miles per hour and is only about five feet from the ground.

“Obviously, it's not close enough for anyone to hit their feet,” said the employee. “But if you’re tall enough and you’re standing there, you will get hit. It doesn’t take much to be too tall to get hit there.”

They said employees can't even access the area without keys, and the only way they can retrieve the keys is if the ride is turned off. The man would have had to leap two fences and pass several warning signs to get there.

“I don’t think you can necessarily fault the park,” the employee said. “There’s only so much you can do. If someone really wants to do something like that, they’re going to do it. You can put as tall a fence as you want, but if someone wants something bad enough, they’re going to do it.”

The park is operating normally at this time, with the exception of Banshee, which is shut down during the investigation of the incident.

Another nearly identical accident happened in 2015 at another Cedar Fair park, Cedar Point. There's a roller coaster there called "Raptor." It's the sister-coaster to Banshee, configured the same, with guests riding suspended under the track. There's a point during the ride where the train comes very close to the ground. A person entered a restricted area of Raptor while trying to get a lost cell phone and was hit and killed.