Greendale police: 6-year-old survives fall from Southridge Mall escalator

GREENDALE, Wisconsin -- Terrifying moments last Tuesday night at Wisconsin mall as first responders raced to help a 6-year-old girl who had fallen off the railing of a second-floor escalator.

Broadcastify radio traffic said there were "about 15 9-1-1 calls" coming from the Southridge Mall in Greendale just after 7 that night.

A Greendale police report obtained by 12 News said the girl, her father and stepmother had gotten off the escalator going towards Champs Sports.

Police interviewed the father who said he heard his daughter say, "Hey, look what I can do" and didn't look until they were five to seven steps ahead.

They saw the girl gripping the elevator railing "supermanning" it. When they told her to let go, the railing started to move and she fell to the first floor below.

Riley Zacharias was working in the mall and was in shock as she witnessed the whole thing.

"Out of the side of my eye, I saw like, what looked like a coat fall off the escalator, but then I heard a big 'slap' noise onto the ground and then I saw parents from the side of Champs come running down the escalators," Zacharias said.

Greendale police told 12 News the six-year-old was released from the hospital last week. While she was at the hospital, the girl told officers she had pain in her back and arm but didn't remember the fall.

Zacharias is relieved the girl survived: "It was kind of scary. The first couple of nights I kept thinking about it, but it's getting better now."

According to the police report, a surveillance camera that pans back and forth in the mall showed the moments before and after the fall.

The report indicates this incident is believed to be an accident.

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