Jan 13 2008 - AP
A man died after falling several stories in a Hollywood shopping mall while apparently attempting to slide down the banister of an escalator, authorities said.
The Hollywood & Highland complex includes the theater where the Academy Awards ceremony is held.
The victim's friends told officials investigating the Saturday night incident at the Hollywood & Highland Center that the man "had been drinking quite a bit," said Los Angeles police Officer J. Boyer.
Boyer said the man lost his balance and plunged several stories onto the steps of a moving lower-level escalator.
The man was not identified. He was taken to a hospital where he was declared dead from a head injury.
The Hollywood & Highland Center also holds the Kodak Theatre, where the Academy Awards are held.
Mankind has created spectacular works of art, engineered incredibly tall buildings, designed impressive supercomputers, lived in outerspace, discovered cures for nasty diseases. As a whole, nothing can compare to human intelligence, but sometimes, humans take a ride of a lifetime (and their last).
Man killed in fall after reported escalator stunt