Moments Before Compacting Load, Camera Shows Man Inside Garbage Truck in Modesto, CA
A garbage truck driver may have prevented a serious injury — or worse — early Monday in Modesto, MO, when he saw a man trapped in the vehicle’s body before he compacted its contents.
Emergency dispatch got a call about 4 a.m. reporting the discovery at 12th and I streets. The man had been inside a garbage bin when it was emptied into the truck, Modesto Fire Department spokesperson Capt. Joe Spani said.
The driver already had collected the contents of about 10 bins and was preparing to compact the load when he checked an internal camera in the truck’s garbage compartment and saw the man.
At about the same time, a passerby on a bicycle flagged down the driver to warn him someone may have been inside a bin that had just been emptied, according to Steve Holloway, general manager of Bertolotti Disposal.
The driver continued monitoring the camera before getting out to confirm the man was moving inside the truck, Holloway said. He then called 9-1-1.
Firefighters used a ladder to help the man out of the truck. He was unable to climb out on his own and appeared heavily intoxicated, smelled of alcohol and could not stand straight, Holloway said.
The man did not appear to suffer significant injuries but was taken to a local hospital for evaluation, Spani said.
Fire crews and the driver also ensured the truck’s compaction system was not activated during the rescue — a step that likely prevented a far more serious outcome.
Spani said incidents like this are rare but not unheard of.
“We have been called for occurrences like this in the past,” he said. “While this isn’t a frequent occurrence, we have rescued people from clothes donation bins, dumpsters and garbage trucks in recent years.”
Holloway said such situations, while uncommon, do happen a few times a year and present ongoing safety concerns for drivers.
Drivers are trained to check their surroundings and use onboard camera systems before compacting loads, particularly in downtown areas where people may be sleeping in or near garbage bins, Holloway said.
“It’s a constant concern,” he said.
The man dumped into the truck is fortunate especially in light of the fates that befell two homeless women in Modesto in the past decade.
On an afternoon in July 2023, 27-year-old Christine Chavez was killed while asleep when run over by a landscaper mowing grass and weeds with heavy machinery at a Modesto park. The grass and weeds were 1 to 1.5 feet tall.
And in August 2018, 32-year-old Shannon Bigley was crushed to death by heavy machinery operated by a Caltrans employee. Crews were cleaning up a homeless encampment along Highway 99 south of Kansas Avenue in central Modesto when a front-loader operator dropped the bucket onto what he thought was a pile of trash. But Bigley was sleeping there and was killed.
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