Backhoe Falls, Killing Ohio Man

July 17, 2013
The man was pinned under the backhoe at a landscaping center.

July 17--A 54-year-old man man was killed at a landscaping center Tuesday morning when a backhoe fell on him while he was changing the tires.

An autopsy is scheduled today for Jeffrey Cranford, of Dayton, the Montgomery County Coroner's Office said Tuesday night.

Moraine fire Chief Anthony Trick said firefighters responded to the Siebenthaler Landscaping center on Cobblegate Drive shortly after 10:30 a.m. when an employee found the man pinned under the equipment.

Owner Robert Siebenthaler said there were no employees of the landscaping center nearby when the backhoe fell, so it is unclear exactly what happened. Trick said when rescuers arrived, "He was trapped under the vehicle."

"We saw the seriousness of it, we called in additional manpower and equipment and we notified CareFlight," Trick said.

The medical helicopter was then cancelled after it became clear the man had died, Trick said. The victim was identified as an employee of Grismer Tire.

Grismer manager John Marshall said the employee had been with the company's commercial department for several years and had worked on that piece of equipment before.

"I'm just heartbroken," Marshall said. He said they've never had an accident like this in their 81 years in business. "We're just stunned."

"We have a very long and good relationship with Grismer," Siebenthaler said. "It's an unfortunate incident." He said the thoughts of the Siebenthaler family were with the man's relatives and the entire Grismer family.

The incident is being investigated by Moraine police and the coroner's office. An Ohio Occupational Safety and Health Administration investigator also was called to the scene.

Copyright 2013 - Dayton Daily News, Ohio

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