Home > News > Article Lift collapse kills one man, injure another
August 07, 2007
One Middletown man died and another was in critical condition after a hydraulic lift collapsed yesterday at Rockland County Community College.
Detective Lieutenant Louis Falco of Rockland Sheriff's Office said Dale Post, 54, and 30-year-old Williams S. Maxwell were installing a sign about 11:40 a.m. on the east wall of the college's field house when a piston on the lift failed.
Falco said both men were up in the lift when it came down.
A young man who had come out of a summer camp at the field house heard moaning and found the men. Post died at the scene, Falco said. An ambulance took Maxwell to Good Samaritan Hospital where officials said he was in critical condition today.
The men worked for Lite-Bright Signs in Middletown. Employees at the shop wouldn't comment today, and the owner hasn't responded to a request for an interview. While the project was at the college, it was contracted through Rockland County. CJ Miller, spokeswoman for the county executive's office, said the men were subcontractors, hanging a sign to identify the field house.
"It was just a simple project that went horribly wrong," Miller said.
The sheriff's office is investigating along with the Occupational Health and Safety Administration.
This happened in early August. Both men were friends of mine and the owner is one of my best friends. He is not allowed to comment to reports by order of his lawyer. The piston collapsed while they were 25ft up and they were trapped by the safety gear with the lift on top of them. It was a tow behind unit and the pistons were just rebuilt by a reputable company who is in deep do-do rite now. Bill is out of the hospital now and said that if they didn't have the safety gear on they would have been thrown clear and maybe just broke a leg or arm. I will post pictures as soon as Carm says I can. Pretty gruesome. They were all done with the job and coming down when it all happened.They didnt mention that it was 45 minuites after it happened that they were found.
If you do use these be very carefull.