LODD News
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NIOSH Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation Reports for "Motor Vehicle - Struck-by" Incidents
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Virginia: Tow Truck Driver Killed on Side of I-495 Beltway
A tow truck driver was hit and killed on the Outer Loop of the Beltway Monday morning while responding to an unattended vehicle. It happened at 9:53 a.m. along the shoulder of the southbound lanes of I-495 at the ramp for Exit 49 to Rt. 7, between the George Washington Parkway and Interstate 66. A Fairfax Towing & Recovery wrecker had stopped out on the right southbound shoulder of I-495 for an unattended vehicle. The wrecker driver, Najdi Hicham, 45, of Centreville, Va., was hit by a box truck traveling south on I-495. He died at the scene. Another story can be found at: http://patch.com/virginia/centreville/centreville-tow-truck-driver-killed-i-495-crash-0?utm_source=alert-breakingnews&utm_medium=email&utm_term=police%20%26%20fire&utm_campaign=alert
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New Jersey: Cliffside Park Officer Dies from Struck-By Injuries
One Cliffside Police officer was killed and another injured when they were struck by an SUV this weekend. Just after 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, Officer Stephen Petruzzello and his partner Thaier Abdallah were on foot patrol on Walker Street in Cliffside Park. The 22-year-olds had just graduated from the academy last month, and are part of the borough's special police force. Both Petruzzello and Abdallah were crossing the street when a Honda CRV struck them both, shattering the windshield. Other stories can be found at: http://7online.com/news/1-cliffside-park-officer-killed-1--hurt-after-being-struck-by-suv/452799/ http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2014/12/29/cliffside-park-police-officer-hit-by-suv-dies/
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New York: Officer Injured in 2013 Dies of Injuries
Staten Island, NY *Line of Duty Death* MTA Bridge & Tunnel Officer Thomas Choi was struck and wounded by a car on the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge on Oct. 20, 2013. He remained in the hospital ever since and succumed to his injuries today.
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United Kingdom: Paramedic Dies After Being Knocked Down in an Ambulance Station Car Park
A paramedic has died after she was knocked down in a Scottish ambulance station car park. Alison Smith was struck by a vehicle at the station on Western Road in Kilmarnock at 7am on Tuesday. The 51-year-old, from Irvine, sustained serious injuries and was given first aid at the scene by fellow paramedics.
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Texas: Tow Truck Driver Struck and Killed
North Carolina State Troopers said a family from Florida’s vehicle had broken down on the side of the highway and a wrecker service was called to assist them. Forty-four-year-old Jeffery Allen Rackley, of Jeff’s Wrecker Service in Rocky Mount, was struck and killed by a driver as he prepared to hook up the van to the rollback, officials said. Troopers said the driver, Paul Joseph Dattari 67, of Raeford, ran off the road to the right, sideswiped the van and struck Rackley. Dattari also hit the rollback in the midst of the crash, causing it to flip its car multiple times. Another story can be found at: http://www.wilsontimes.com/News/Feature/Story/34832831---TOW-TRUCK-DRIVER-DIES-IN-WRECK
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North Carolina: Deputy Killed When Tractor-Trailer Overturns on His Cruiser
Deputy Sheriff Jeffrey Wayne Greene, Union County (NC) Sheriff's Office was killed in a vehicle crash on November 19, 2014 when a tractor trailer overturned on top of his cruiser. Deputy Greene is the second law enforcement fatality from the State of North Carolina in 2014. Another story can be found at: http://www.wcti12.com/news/tractortrailer-overturns-killing-nc-deputy/29818388
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Israel: Israeli Police Officer Run Over, Killed
A driver of a commercial van ran over pedestrians at a train stop in eastern Jerusalem on Wednesday, killing an Israeli border police officer and injuring 13 other people before getting out of his vehicle and attacking people with a metal bar, Israeli police said. Police shot and killed the attacker, identified by Israeli authorities as a member of the Islamist Hamas movement and a resident of the Shuafat Palestinian refugee camp in eastern Jerusalem, Israeli police spokeswoman Luba Samri said.
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Wisonsin: Hundreds Remember Tow Truck Driver
Over 100 wrecker operators came together to raise awareness for the Move Over Law after one of their own was hit and killed earlier this week. On Monday, Nathan Walsh was helping a disabled car on I-94 when he was hit by a pick-up truck. According to the State Patrol, the pick-up truck didn't move over like the law requires it to. Thursday morning over 100 wrecker operators proceeded to Walsh's funeral in convoy. Those who worked closely with Walsh said seeing all the wrecker operators was overwhelming. Other stories can be found at: http://www.leadertelegram.com/news/front_page/article_6cfe4b4c-59a4-11e4-97d7-6b310b2e7f99.html http://www.leadertelegram.com/news/front_page/article_e94d1a40-5a6f-11e4-92f7-273c4a6692ce.html
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Ohio: Tow Truck Drivers Take Part In Procession To Remember One Of Their Own
John "Jack" Carpenter was struck and killed while helping a stranded driver on state Route 104 last month. On Thursday, October 9, 2014 tow truck drivers held a procession from the funeral home in Worthington to the cemetery off Sunbury Road in Columbus. Some of the tow truck drivers handed out hats as people arrived at the funeral. They all said "Slow Down, Move Over, It's the Law." They say in addition to saying goodbye to their friend, they wanted to spread an important message. Tow truck drivers say they have a passion for the job, and when they get the call, they just go. The call on Thursday was for help saying good-bye to one of their own.
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Ohio: Tow-Truck Driver Killed While Doing his Job
Jack Carpenter had been towing cars for most of his life. He’d had lots of close calls out on the roads. Most wrecker drivers do. On Monday night, while hooking a woman’s broken-down car to his truck on the South Side, he became a chilling reminder of the dangers tow-truck drivers face on the job. Carpenter, 55, was on Rt. 104 near Lockbourne Road, working with his truck’s lights on, when a car drifted off the road about 9:15 p.m., Columbus police said. Carpenter was struck and killed. He is the second tow-truck driver to be killed on the job in Columbus in the past two years. Three other cars were struck on the berm, but no one else was injured, police said. The driver who hit Carpenter had 16 oxycodone pills in his pocket, according to a police report filed in Franklin County Municipal Court. Brian N. Spencer, 31, of 1942 S. Champion Ave. on the South Side, was arrested and charged with possession of drugs after he was treated at OhioHealth Grant Medical Center. He was in the Franklin County jail yesterday. Additional charges could be filed after toxicology tests are completed, police said. Mark Jones, owner of A&A Towing, dispatched his friend of many years on the call 20 minutes before Carpenter was killed. “It’s a loss, I can tell you that,” Jones said. Carpenter, who lived on the North Side, had been working for Jones for the past four years but had been towing long before that. When he wasn’t towing, he loved playing cards. Everyone went home a little poorer after playing Texas hold ’em with Carpenter. He is survived by a daughter, siblings and his mother, Jones said. Drivers at Broad & James Autocare & Towing knew how Jones and his colleagues were feeling yesterday. One of their own, William Houck, 60, was hooking up a disabled vehicle along northbound I-71 when a drunken driver drifted off the road and killed him on Sept. 29, 2012. Last year, Thomas G. Frederick was sentenced to 81/2 years in prison for Houck’s death. Carpenter’s death “hits home,” Broad & James owner Tim Shriner said. “For everybody here, it hits especially hard.” In his business, drivers must remain alert to the speeding traffic that’s often inches away, Shriner said. “Cars are coming at you at 70-plus miles per hour,” he said. “There’s nothing you can do but do your best to get out of the way.” Jones would like to see police set up decoy trucks and ticket people who don’t move over, as required by law. And he’d like to see the fines doubled, just as they are in construction zones. “Slow down and move over, not just for us,” Jones said. “Any time you see amber lights, man, just get over.”