Crime & Safety
Florida Man Dies in Wood Chipper Accident
Police don't suspect foul play, but the U.S. Labor Department's Occupational Safety & Health Administration is investigating.
A 42-year-old Hallandale Beach man is dead after falling into an “industrial” wood chipper on a jobsite in Davie Monday, June 23.
Davie Police say that Hernan Gutierrez either fell or was pulled into a wood chipper that was being used at an affordable housing complex for seniors called Federation Gardens, according to the Sun Sentinel. Gutierrez was performing routine work on the property, helping trip palms and melaleuca trees when the accident occurred.
Police are treating the death as an accident, according to Davie Capt. Dale Engle.
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“The scene was gruesome, to see what the machine could do to a human being,” Engle told the paper.
While Gutierrez was working with two other employees, no one witnessed the accident, the Sun-Sentinel reported.
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The Occupational Safety & Health Administration is also looking into the accident.
Wood chipper deaths are uncommon, but not unheard of in the United States, according to NOLA.com. OSHA statistics put the number at 11 from 2000 to 2013.
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