A 43-year-old homeless man who was dumped from a commercial trash bin into a garbage truck and "compacted" appears to have escaped without serious injury, authorities said.
Assistant Chief Scott Cockrum, spokesman for the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District, said firefighters were called to 3437 Myrtle Ave. in North Highlands about 12:20 p.m. today after a man was accidentally dumped into a Waste Management garbage truck. The truck operator compacted the contents of the truck two or three times before realizing a man was inside, Cockrum said.
He said the man was yelling and screaming when firefighters arrived. They used ladder to rescue him from inside the truck.
Cockrum said the man did not appear to be injured but was taken to a hospital as a precaution. The fact that the truck was not full was credited with sparing the man potentially fatal injuries.
Cockrum said sheriff's deputies reported that they knew the man as a transient who often slept in trash bins in the area. Sheriff's officials had asked businesses to lock their bins to avoid incidents such as this.
The Waste Management employee reported that the bin was locked. The employee unlocked it, rolled it onto the forklift on the truck and dumped it without any indication that someone was inside, Cockrum said.
Officials have not determined how long the man was inside the bin, but suspect he may have been asleep when someone came along and locked it.
KCRA: Homeless man compact in garbage truck
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