Sunday, April 10, 2005

Weekly Toll

Worker Crushed By Plane-Pushing Vehicle At Indy Airport

INDIANAPOLIS, IN -- A man working at the Indianapolis International Airport was crushed to death on the tarmac Tuesday morning by a vehicle that pushes airplanes airplanes backward, an airport representative said. The man, whose name wasn't immediately released, was an employee of GSRX, an Ohio-based maintenance contractor operating at the airport for U.S. Airways, Indianapolis television station WRTV reported.


Employee trapped in machine dies

ELK GROVE VILLAGE, IL -- A Schaumburg man died of injuries he received when he was trapped in a punch-press machine at an Elk Grove Village industrial metal manufacturer, police said Tuesday. William Naras, 48, of the 300 block of South Cedar Crest Drive was pinned against the machine by an I-beam or metal arm about 4 p.m. Monday, said Cmdr. Lynn Atkinson.


Central Texas man killed by electrocution

College Station, TX- A 22-year-old Central Texas man is dead, following a tragic accident in Bryan this weekend. Donald Wilcher Smith of College Station was electrocuted at the Sanderson Farm's processing plant Saturday morning. Investigators with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration spent three days at the plant, but do not expect to complete their investigation for at least two months. Smith was born in Bryan, but grew up near Temple and attended Academy schools, graduating in 2000.


Worker Dies After Fall From Bridge

Columbia, TN- A construction worker was killed Friday morning in Columbia when he fell off a bridge while preparing to sandblast it, authorities said. Investigators believe he was painting underneath the bridge over the Duck River on Highway 31 when he fell about 50 feet onto a rocky area. He died instantly. Investigators are now trying to figure out what kind of safety harness or equipment he was using.


26-Year-Old Texas Firefighter Dies After Completing Overtime Shift, Father of Three Suffered Dissecting Aortic Aneurysm

Keller, TX -- A Texas firefighter died in the line of duty March 30th after completing an overtime shift and suffering a dissecting aortic aneurysm. Firefighter/Paramedic Brandon Scott Phillips, 26, had served the Keller Fire Department for three years. He responded to multiple calls during an overtime shift on March 29th, reported the U.S. Fire Administration. Two hours after completing the overtime shift, he suffered a dissecting aortic aneurysm, a split in the inner lining of the aorta.


Trucker killed in I-5 crash

ARTOIS, CA- A truck driver from Spokane, Wash., was killed Thursday night after his tractor-trailer drifted off the shoulder of northbound Interstate 5, then slammed into an overpass pillar at County Road 28. The California Highway Patrol identified the victim as Robert S. Banning, 47.


Vigil Held For Richmond Man Killed On The Job

RICHMOND, Calif. -- People who live in a Richmond housing complex are looking for answers after their maintenance man was shot and killed. Emotions ran high as friends and relatives of Jimmy La held a vigil Wednesday night. La was killed early Sunday morning. Managers say he had worked at the complex for eight years.


Machinery Company Worker Dies After Being Pinned

FRANKLIN, Pa. -- An employee at Joy Mining Machinery in Franklin, Venango County, died following an accident. Authorities said Richard Aiken, 56, died after he was pinned between two pieces of steel. Aiken had worked for the company since 1971 and was taken to a Youngstown, Ohio hospital after he was hurt on Thursday. Frank DeMain, the coroner's investigator in Mahoning County, Ohio, said Aiken's death was accidental and was caused by multiple internal crush injuries. The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating.


Worker killed when forklift overturns on him

BENTON, Ind.- A delivery man died after the forklift he was driving overturned and landed on him. Greg L. Harman, 53, was pronounced dead on the scene after the accident Wednesday afternoon, said Anthony G. Coleman, an Elkhart County deputy coroner. He died of massive head injuries. Harman was making a delivery at a lawn-care company in the town about 15 miles southeast of South Bend when the accident occurred. Company employees heard the commotion when the forklift overturned and rushed to help Harman, Coleman said.


Dundee Store worker found dead after robbery

Orlando, FL- A Dundee convenience-store employee was shot to early Friday during a robbery, the Polk County Sheriff's Office reported. Priteshkumar "Pat" M. Amin, 31, of Winter Haven was killed between 6:30 and 7:15 a.m. at the Superway 6 on State Road 542, said sheriff's spokeswoman Carrie Rodgers.


Tree Trimmer Killed After 30-Foot Fall, Worker Killed While Cutting Palm Tree

FULLERTON, Calif. -- The owner of a Lynwood tree-trimming business fell about 30 feet to his death Friday while cutting a palm tree during gusty wind conditions in a Fullerton back yard, police said. The man, whose name was not immediately released, was working at 612 Paseo Place when the accident occurred about 11 a.m. Co-worker Juan Vega, 34, of Lynwood, left to refuel a chain saw. He found his boss on the ground when he returned to the back yard, said Fullerton police Sgt. Steve Matson.


Worker Buried In Trench Is Identified, 8-Foot Trench Collapsed On Construction Worker

RICHMOND HEIGHTS, Ohio -- A construction worker who died when a trench collapsed around him Thursday has been identified. According to the Cuyahoga County coroner's report, Charles Pitsinger, 52, died of asphyxiation while working on the foundation of a newly constructed house in Richmond Heights.


Worker killed in on-site accident in Philadelphia

Philadelphia, PA- An industrial worker died early yesterday morning after an on-site accident in the city's Brewerytown section. Police said Gregory Mayor, 43, of Erial in Camden County, was picking up debris with a forklift when the bucket came down and he was crushed. He was pronounced dead minutes later. The accident happened about 7 a.m. at a construction site in the 2900 block of Oxford Street.


Intertape Polymer explosion kills one, closes plant temporarily

Columbia, SC - An explosion rocked Intertape Polymer, formerly known as Anchor Continental, in Columbia near Shop Road and South Beltline just before 11:00pm Wednesday evening. Tommy Jarvis, 47 , of Lexington County was killed in the explosion.


Pilot in fatal crash failed to pull out of spin

Fort Lauderdale, FL- Champion aerobatic pilot Ian Groom crashed in the ocean before last year's Air & Sea Show simply because he failed to pull his plane out of a flat spin, the National Transportation Safety Board said Thursday.


OSHA checks into grain terminal death

Corpus Christi, TX- The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating the death of a 53-year-old man late Wednesday at Interstate Grain Port Terminal on Up River Road, officials said. Lt. Mike Lowrance of the Nueces County Sheriff's Department's Criminal Investigation Division said Thursday that Jose Luis Gutierrez was employed at the terminal and that his job was cleaning the area where grain is moved by a conveyor belt. Lowrance said Gutierrez had been in the room about 90 minutes when co-workers noticed he was missing. He was found just after_9 p.m. after being entangled in the conveyor belt, officials said.


Man killed during holdup

TEMECULA, CA- Police say a 34-year-old clerk was apparently shot to death by robbers. A liquor store employee was shot and killed during a late night robbery, police said Saturday. The California Highway Patrol received a 911 call Friday night that a man may have been shot inside the Rancho Liquor store, 28322 Old Town Front St., in Temecula, police said. Temecula police officers arrived at 9:39 p.m. and found a man who had been shot multiple times inside the store, police said. The victim was identified as Rafi Ibrahim, 34, of Temecula, who worked at the liquor store, police said. Investigators believe Ibrahim was shot during a robbery.


Benton police officer dies in shooting at 2nd officer's home

Benton, AR- Benton Police Sgt. Bryant Dorminey, 35, died early Saturday of what is believed to have been an accidental, self-inflicted gunshot wound.


Romney man killed in weekend vehicle crash

CAPON SPRINGS, WV - At approximately 11:15 p.m. on April 3, Hampshire County 911 Center received a call in reference to a vehicle crash on Route 259 near Capon Springs, W.Va., in Hampshire County, which resulted in the death of a Romney man. Deputies Norm Launi, Bruce Johnson and Travis McBride of the Hampshire County Sheriff's Department responded to the vehicle crash which took the life of 50-year-old Steven Method, an Allegheny Power employee.


Police seek suspect in fatal shooting

St. Louis, MO- An Allen Cab driver was fatally shot in the 4000 block of Garfield Avenue by a fare who then took his cab early Tuesday morning, St. Louis homicide detectives said. The driver, Samuel K. Starks, 37, was shot about 1:45 a.m. and he died at Barnes-Jewish Hospital at 4:22 a.m.


Man killed doing roadwork

Gainesville, FL- 25-year-old construction worker died Wednesday morning when he was crushed by a dump truck at a Gainesville construction zone on South Main Street. Justin Garland of Gainesville had been positioning orange cones in the southbound lanes of Main Street near the Williston Road intersection shortly before 8 a.m. Nearby, trucks were lined up so they could be loaded with asphalt removed from the roadway, officers reported.


Duane Morris partner dies in plane crash

Philadelphia, PA- Duane Morris partner Barbara W. Freedman was killed Tuesday night in a single-engine plane crash in Cape May County, N.J. Freedman, an avid pilot, was one of two occupants killed in the small plane crash, according to the Center City law firm.


Plant fire claims worker; 3 others hospitalized

Fort Wayne, IN- One of five workers who was seen fleeing from a magnesium fire at National Magnesium and Aluminum Foundries Inc. with his clothes engulfed in flames died Wednesday at St. Joseph Hospital, the Fort Wayne Fire Department said. Edel Laguna, 42, died of severe thermal injury, Allen County Coroner Dr. E. Jon Brandenberger determined after an autopsy Wednesday. Kevin McNabb, a son of company owners Robert and Nancy McNabb, was hospitalized Wednesday at St. Joseph Hospital in critical condition along with two other employees who were in serious condition. Another worker was treated for minor injuries. Fire officials have not released the names of the other injured employees.


Gruesome crash kills trucker

Henderson, NC-A tractor-trailer driver was killed on Interstate 85 South Wednesday afternoon when his windshield was smashed by a spare tire that fell off another vehicle, investigators said. The victim's name was being withheld Wednesday night because family members had yet to be notified, according to 1st Sgt. Larry Parker of the North Carolina Highway Patrol.


Driver killed in fiery crash on I-95

St. Augustine, FL- A driver died in a fiery crash with a tractor trailer Sunday night on Interstate 95 near the Flagler County line, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. Due to extreme fire damage, the driver and vehicle have not been identified, Highway Patrol Lt. Bill Leeper said Monday.


Driven By Fear

Rochester, NY -- As Rochester police search for the person who killed taxi cab driver Neville Bailey on Wednesday, other cab drivers in the city say that the news does not really surprise them as dealing with violence on the job has become the norm rather than the exception.


Officer Dies Trying To Save Pedestrian

Chicago, IL- They sign on to protect and serve. Early this morning a north suburban police officer was killed in a crash trying to do just that. CBS 2's Rafael Romo reports that a Niles police officer was speeding to a call when he lost control of his squad trying to avoid a person in the road. The squad car overturned, killing four-year Niles police veteran, Steven Zourkas.


Worker dies in sinkhole at campus

Charlotte, NC- Gophers, erosion cited amid 15-foot-deep cavity at Southern Wesleyan. Groundhogs tunneling under a road may have caused the 15-foot-deep sinkhole in which a worker fell and died, a Pickens County road official says. The tunnels brought water from a nearby creek under the road, removing dirt from under the asphalt. Eventually, enough soil eroded to create a hole in the street, said Troy Porter, head of the county's road department. David Summey, 35, was investigating the sinkhole on Southern Wesleyan University's campus with two other employees when he accidentally fell in it around 2:30 p.m. Tuesday. Summey suffocated minutes later because there was little oxygen available, Pickens Coroner James Mahanes said.


Man killed in Hollywood when car jack fails

Fort Lauderdale, FL- When the jack broke Thursday morning in Hollywood and his black 1990 Lincoln Continental came crashing down, Dennis Bixler didn't have a chance, police said. Bixler, 67, was tinkering with the engine about 7:30 a.m. when the tire jack gave.


Power line kills two in Floral Park

Mineola, New York - Two workers were killed on Thursday in Floral Park after they came in contact with a high-voltage wire. Police said the two men had just finished putting up siding at a residence at Calla Avenue and Zinnia Street at 5:34 p.m., when the accident happened. The charged wire came in contact with scaffolding that the men were dismantiling, police said. The two men were taken to Winthrop-University Hospital in Mineola, where they were pronounced dead. They were identified as David Coy Sanchez, 25, and Elkin Astaiza Ceballos, 19. Both were residents of Elmont.


Hit-and-run claims hard worker

Orlando, FL- Alix Vital is killed by a semi on Interstate 4 after stopping to fix a flat on his Honda, troopers say. Alix Vital had worked hard to earn a living and bring his daughters from his native Haiti to Central Florida. Vital, 38, was proud of his two girls -- a sophomore and a junior at Colonial High School. And he also took pride in his purple 1996 Freightliner truck cab, which he parked near his job in Polk County. On Tuesday morning, another semi-truck driver struck and killed Vital on Interstate 4 and then sped away. The Orange County resident had pulled to the side of the road to fix a flat tire on his Honda Accord.


Worker, 36, falls to his death while painting water tower

Baton Rouge, LA- Two co-workers grab rope, survive A man hired to paint a central Baton Rouge water tank fell more than 100 feet to his death Tuesday after the scaffolding he shared with two co-workers broke loose and tumbled to the ground. The co-workers survived by grabbing ropes and pulling themselves to safety, Baton Rouge Police spokesman Cpl. Don Kelly said. Danny Rico, 36, of Plaucheville landed facedown on the grass below with the scaffolding on its side several feet away.


Mine accident kills trona worker

GREEN RIVER, WY -- For the second time in just over a year, a Green River trona miner has been crushed to death by a piece of equipment while working underground at the OCI Wyoming LP Big Island Mine and Refinery. Terry Bigler of Green River died from massive chest trauma in the accident, which occurred about 3:30 p.m. Monday. Officials said Bigler died after being struck by a forklift while working in the mine's underground maintenance shop. Bigler, 47, was pronounced dead in the emergency room at Memorial Hospital in Rock Springs about an hour later, Sweetwater County Coroner Dale Majhanovich said.


Trench collapses; 22-year-old man dead

Lubbock, TX- Rescue workers recovered the body of Rafael Castillo, 22, Tuesday night from the collapsed trench where he laid for more than 10 hours, trapped underneath several feet of dirt. "He's up out of the hole, and he's not alive," Rhea Cooper, deputy chief of the Lubbock Fire Department said after workers recovered the body at about 7:30 p.m.


Turnpike crash kills guardrail installer

Leesburg, FL- A 37-year-old Leesburg woman dies when a car plows through a work crew in the median. Lorraine Ann Barton and the crew installing guardrails in the median of Florida's Turnpike knew it was dangerous work. But the 37-year-old Leesburg woman and the others also knew those guardrails would make the turnpike safer: 54 people were killed last year in so-called crossover accidents in which out-of-control vehicles crossed medians into oncoming traffic.


Worker found dead at Dinwiddie plant

Richmond, VA- A worker at a Dinwiddie County wastewater-treatment plant was found dead yesterday at the bottom of one of the facility's tanks, authorities said. Officials said the victim was a 52-year-old man who was the daytime operator for the plant, located on the 18000 block of Bishop Street, near the county courthouse complex. They did not release the man's name.


Worker crushed to death by tree

NORWALK, CT -- A landscape worker died at a Cranbury home Thursday when he was crushed beneath a tree that fell while he was attached to it, police said. Alex Garcia, 28, of Stamford, was pronounced dead at the scene after emergency personnel arrived at 1 Dawn Road and found him pinned under the trunk of a large tree, Norwalk police Lt. Peter Randall said.


St. Charles officer dies during chase

St. Charles, IL — A Saint Charles police officer has died after responding to a call at a local high school. About 1:20 Saturday morning police were called to Saint Charles East High School to check out reports of a suspicious person. Sgt. Daniel Figgins was apparently involved in a foot pursuit with someone. When other officers lost contact with him they began looking for him. They found that he had collapsed and was not responsive. Figgins, 53, died at the hospital. His death is under investigation. He was a 27-year veteran.


Firefighter dies while training

SOUTHINGTON, CT -- An 18-year-old resident training to be a firefighter died Sunday at St. Mary’s Hospitalin Waterbury after falling off a 20-foot ladder at the Wolcott Regional Fire School. Justin M. Wisniewski was at the fire school on Boundline Road in Wolcott Saturday when he fell at about 1:30 p.m., according to Paul Perrotti, president of the Waterbury Area Fire Chiefs Association, which runs the Wolcott school.

Guam man dies after fall

Washington,D.C- A Guam man died Sunday after falling from a golf cart Saturday night following a concert for sailors and the Guam public at U.S. Naval Base Guam’s Polaris Point, Navy officials said Monday. Roland Boudrau died at 11:59 a.m. Sunday at the the U.S. Naval Hospital Guam, said Lt. Arwen Consaul, Naval Base Guam spokeswoman.


Man dies in workplace accident

EDISON, NJ –– A 35-year-old man’s work day had barely started last week when his life was cut short after several 300-pound boxes toppled on top of him. The man, Earl Lising of Union Township, was unloading a truck at the M&M International Corp. warehouse, 160 Raritan Center Parkway, when another employee was using a forklift to remove heavy boxes that contained metal tubing from the same truck at about 9:40 a.m. on March 30, Patrolman Robert Dudash said.


UNCG staff member dies in car wreck

Greenboro, NC- Fatal car wreck under the W. Market overpass claimed the life of Betty Harden, Director of Advancement Service. UNCG lost one of their own Wednesday March 30 in a tragic car accident that claimed the life of Betty Hardin, director of University.


Accident at plant kills 1, injures 1

Roanoke, VA- Robert Lee Burton was killed while reinstalling a fan at a Giles County lime production plant.One man was killed and another injured in an industrial accident at a Giles County mine and lime production plant Friday evening. Robert Lee Burton, 50, a maintenance worker at a Chemical Lime Co. plant in Kimballton, was killed as he reinstalled a fan on a large piece of machinery, said his brother-in-law Alvin Holt, 38. The pipe became dislodged and struck both men in the head, knocking out Collins and killing Burton, Holt said.


Cattle farmer killed when his tractor rolls

Ann Arbor, MI- A Bridgewater Township cattle farmer was killed Saturday evening when his tractor rolled over on him while he was out feeding cattle on his farm, Washtenaw County Sheriff's authorities said. The farmer was identified as 43-year-old Kevin Keith Clark, who lived in the 11700 block of Burmeister Road.


Farmer Dies In Tractor Accident

CREIGHTON, Neb. -- Norman Horstmann of Creighton, Neb., died Friday in a tractor accident, according to the Knox County Sheriff's office. The Creighton Fire Department and ambulance responded along with the sheriff's office Friday afternoon to the emergency call. Horstmann was found on his rural Creighton farmland pinned beneath an overturned tractor. He had passed away before rescue personnel arrived on the scene.


Coal miner dies in Lincoln County roof fall

ALUM CREEK, W.Va.- Mining officials are investigating the death of a Kentucky man at an underground mine in Lincoln County. Richard Hughes Jr., 40, of Belo died in a "fairly large roof fall at an intersection" about 5:45 p.m. Thursday at the Coal River Mining, LLC-owned Tiny Creek No. 2 Mine near Alum Creek, said Terry Farley, administrator for the state Office of Miners' Health, Safety and Training.


Search for tugboat operator suspended

San Francisco, CA- The U.S. Coast Guard reports that a search near the Oakland-Alameda Estuary for a missing tugboat operator was suspended this afternoon. The search was suspended after the tugboat operator's co-worker told the Coast Guard that the missing man did not frequently wear a lifejacket, the Coast Guard reported. Salvage teams also discovered two lifejackets in the tugboat after it was raised. One lifejacket belonged to the missing man; the other belonged to his co-worker, according to the Coast Guard. The tugboat sank near the estuary entrance around 8 p.m. on Tuesday. A salvage company raised the 45-foot tugboat from the water today around 9 a.m. The name of the missing man is being temporarily withheld at the request of his family, the Coast Guard reported.


An Amish farmer died after being kicked in the head by his horse

SMICKSBURG, Pa. — An Amish farmer died after being kicked in the head by his horse, authorities said. John Weaver, 54, of Smicksburg, died shortly after midnight Saturday at Memorial Medical Center in Johnstown. Weaver, a married father of 10, was injured at about 6 p.m. Friday after the plow the horse was pulling came loose, said Jeffrey Lees, deputy coroner in Cambria County. The horse kicked Weaver when he bent over to reconnect the plow, Lees said.


1 dead, 3 wounded in MB nightclub shooting

SC- A man kicked out of a Myrtle Beach nightclub early Saturday morning returned with a gun, killing a club employee and wounding three others, according to police. Ardon Percival Cato II, 26, of Burcale Road, fired shots inside the Red Room at the corner of 12th Avenue North and Kings Highway about 4:47 a.m., Capt. David Knipes said. Anthony Hemingway, 32, a club employee who had thrown Cato out of the club minutes earlier for fighting, was hit and died at 5:38 a.m. at Grand Strand Regional Medical Center.


Deputy killed responding to dispute; suspect held

Newton, Kan. -- A man suspected of fatally shooting a Kansas sheriff's deputy and critically injuring another officer barricaded himself inside his home for hours before surrendering to authorities Saturday. Kansas Bureau of Investigation spokesman Kyle Smith said Gregory Moore, 46, is suspected of shooting the officers when they barged into his house after hearing a woman being struck. Harvey County Sheriff's Deputy Kurt Ford, 38, was killed, and Hesston Police Detective Chris Eilert, 33, was shot four times but survived and was in stable condition at a hospital.


Construction Worker Dies at Mixing Bowl

SPRINGFIELD, Va..- A construction worker died early Sunday morning, making this the second fatality on the Springfield mixing bowl project. Virginia Department of Transportation spokesman Steve Titunic says two workers were in a steel cage about 70 feet in the air, preparing to move the last of four large steel beams into place, around 2 a.m. Titunic says it's believed one of the workers looked over the side of the cage, accidentally moved it and hit his head on the beam, suffering a fatal head or neck injury. The man, identified as 35-year-old Darren Havermale, of Berklet Springs, W.Va., was pronounced dead at Inova Fairfax Hospital. Havermale worked for Williams Steel Co. based in Manassas.


St. Charles officer dies after chasing suspects

ILL- A St. Charles police sergeant died early Saturday after chasing burglary suspects at a local high school, but police suspect a heart attack -- not foul play -- caused his death. Sgt. Dan Figgins, 53, was the first officer to respond to a report of suspicious people at St. Charles East High School at 1:20 a.m.

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