A day after an East Ridge worker jammed himself in a sanitation truck’s compacting mechanism, the city concluded that “our employee made a mistake,” according to a news release.
George Scarborough’s leg got stuck as he forced a stubborn pile of debris into his garbage truck Monday afternoon. The truck’s compacting mechanism began to cycle, pulling Scarborough into the compacting area.
Scarborough was rescued by resident Jerry Ensley, who said he heard “screams from George” as he walked his garbage to the curb. Scarborough was not seriously injured.
A preliminary investigation found that Scarborough failed in “getting up in the truck and trying to clear debris without either shutting the truck down … or calling a supervisor to come and assist him,” Tuesday’s news release said.
“There’s definitely error on the employee’s part,” East Ridge police spokesman Officer Erik Hopkins said. “However, we’re still trying to figure out how it went from everything’s fine to crap I’m-stuck.”