Ex-Oxford Center worker says key safety item was abandoned years before hyperbaric chamber explosion

Bowen Geng, a former Oxford Center employee testified that grounding wrist straps that prevent static electric buildup in hyperbaric chambers stopped being used in 2017, years before a 2025 explosion that killed a 5-year-old boy. Geng testified during the preliminary hearing on Jan. 13, 2026. Tamela Peterson, 59, of Brighton, Jeffrey Mosteller, 65, of Clinton Township, Gary Marken, 66, of Spring Arbor and Aleta Moffitt, 61, of Rochester Hills, were charged after Thomas Cooper was killed when the hyperbaric chamber he was receiving treatment in exploded at the Oxford Center in Troy on Jan. 31, 2025. The boy’s mother was also injured in the explosion. The hearing is expected to continue on Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2025.