Deputy finance commissioner stuck in elevator over phone bill
Jerry Adams, who oversees Tennessee’s $25 billion budget, was working alone last weekend when he stepped into an elevator, which promptly broke and left him stranded between floors.
Adams picked up the phone in the elevator, but it didn’t work because the bill for the phone hadn’t been paid and the service was disconnected, officials said.
Finance Department spokeswoman Lola Potter said the bill was mistakenly sent to the Department of Human Services. Officials there had no record of the line and didn’t pay the bill.
In the elevator, Adams said the only thing he could do was push a button that rang an emergency bell. He did that every five minutes for hours, but the building was deserted forcing him to lay down and spend the night.
At about 4 a.m. the next morning, the cleaning crew had come in and heard Adams stirring and rescue crews finally freed him.
“It was not the way I wanted to spend a Sunday evening,” said Adams, a widower who lives alone.