Power outage in Greensburg traps 4 in courthouse elevator

The wheels of justice may grind slowly, but for four people riding in an elevator Friday at the Westmoreland County Courthouse in Greensburg, those wheels actually ground to a halt.

Senior county Judge Al Bell was one of four people trapped inside the elevator for about 45 minutes when a power outage caused their car to stop between the first and second floors.

Rescuers eventually removed a panel on the car’s roof. A collapsible ladder was dropped inside, allowing the passengers to climb out, according to Greensburg fire Chief Tom Bell.

The passengers, including the judge, were helped out of the top of the car and maneuvered around the cables connected above.

“It was hot in there, and there was just a little light,” Judge Bell said after Greensburg firefighters and maintenance personnel helped him escape.

During the time they were stuck in the elevator, the occupants were able to communicate with their rescuers by shouting.

One of the passengers reported feeling a bit sick, and a Mutual Aid Ambulance Service crew was waiting to provide assistance when they were rescued. No one required medical assistance, however.

Judge Bell was in the elevator on his way to a second floor courtroom where his former law clerk, Henry L. Moore, was about to be sworn into office as the district judge for North Huntingdon. The ceremonies were delayed for several minutes before the decision was made to start without Judge Bell .

About 312 customers in the Greensburg area lost electricity about 9:45 a.m. when a circuit breaker malfunctioned along Route 130 near the Locust Valley Road intersection in Hempfield, said West Penn Power spokesman Todd Meyers.

Power crews responding to the outage could not find an obvious cause for the malfunction, Meyers said. The crews closed the circuit breaker and power was restored by 11:15 a.m.

During the outage, Greensburg District Judge Chris Flanigan arraigned a woman at her office along North Pennsylvania Avenue in Greensburg.

The darkened courtroom was lit with the help of lights from cellphones. Without power for computers and printers, her staff had to hand write the court paperwork to send along with the defendant after the proceeding.