FHP IDs worker crushed by Waste Pro truck in Palm Coast

Nov. 21--A 21-year-old worker was crushed to death Wednesday morning after a Waste Pro garbage/recycling truck overturned onto the passenger side, trapping him underneath.

The victim was later identified by the Florida Highway Patrol as Demont'e Harris of Palm Coast.

The accident occurred shortly before 10 a.m. near the intersection of Oak Trails Boulevard and Bay Spring Place in a Palm Coast residential area known as the Woodlands. Fire-rescue units were dispatched at 9:53 a.m. and FireFlight, the county's rescue helicopter, also was dispatched but that order was canceled at 10:10 a.m..

According to the FHP, the driver of the truck, Marcus Thames, 42, of Daytona Beach was northbound on Bay Spring Place when the truck crossed into the outside shoulder and overturned on the right side of the roadway. Thames was not injured.

Authorities declared Harris dead at 10:07 a.m., a city of Palm Coast spokesperson said. Ron Pecora, a Waste Pro spokesman, said Harris had been working with the company for about a year. His role was a helper who assisted truck drivers in collecting garbage, yard waste, and recyclables.

"Obviously it's a tragic situation and we feel just absolutely terrible for this helper's family," Pecora said.

One resident at the scene told a News-Journal reporter that the truck fell on its passenger side in the swale and he and some neighbors broke out the driver's side window and pulled Thames out, but Harris was trapped beneath the truck.

FHP Sgt. Dylan Bryan said both men were in the cab of the truck when it tipped over in a muddy swale near a walkway to the Graham Swamp Trail.

"He (Thames) entered a curve in that residential area and what we're thinking at this point is he entered that curve a little too fast, which caused the vehicle to overturn," said Bryan, noting that Harris apparently tried to exit the truck as it overturned. "Unfortunately, it overturned pretty quickly and he was trapped under the vehicle."

Fire Rescue units 21 and 22 responded and the scene was secured by Flagler County sheriff's deputies.

A doctor from the Medical Examiner's Office arrived at the scene shortly before noon. Authorities had not yet attempted to move the truck or recover the body at that point.

In September, another Waste Pro employee on a recycling run was severely injured when he was run over by his own truck in Palm Coast's B Section. That accident prompted an outpouring of support from residents, many of whom taped get well wishes to their garbage cans. Pecora said that worker remains in rehab.

The truck that crushed the worker Wednesday weighs between 40,000 and 50,000 pounds, officials said. Pecora said Waste Pro officials will meet with the family of the victim to review insurance policies and other things, and offer counseling to the driver as well as other staff members at the local office.

In 2017, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics rated garbage collection as the fifth deadliest profession with an annual rate of about 34 work-related deaths per 100,000 full-time employees.

"There are actually more garbage men killed on their jobs than there are policemen killed in the line of duty," Pecora said. "We're dealing with heavy equipment. So although we're blessed to have a good safety record, things do happen."

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