Man dies after 2-story fall at Open Air Festival

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A 29-year-old man died Friday night after he fell from a railing at the Chicago Open Air Festival in southwest suburban Bridgeview.

Just after 10 p.m., Robert Smucz was sitting on a railing watching the concert on the mezzanine level of Toyota Park at 7000 Harlem Avenue when he fell two stories to the cement pavement below, according to city spokesman Ray Hanania.

He was taken in “extremely critical” condition to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he was pronounced dead at 10:50 p.m., according to Hanania and the Cook County medical examiner’s office. He lived in the 4500 block of North Campbell in Chicago.

An autopsy Saturday indicated that he suffered multiple injuries from the fall, and his death was ruled an accident, the medical examiner’s office said.

Bridgview police are investigating.

Friday was the first of the three-day festival featuring live music, craft beer and “gourmet man-food,” according to the Open Air website.