April 10, 2001

PRESS RELEASE

To: Newsroom

For Immediate Release

Contact: Brian A. Crawford, Public Information Officer

Phone: 673-6652, cell: 455-2609, page: 675-2137

Man Injured by Tractor Dumpster

A Shreveport man was injured this morning at Forest Park Cemetery around 8:15 a.m., when he misjudged the emptying of dirt from a dumpster and wound up underneath it. Cemetery worker Jerome Smith, 41, and another man were working at the cemetery’s north end, near the intersection of Claiborne Avenue and Saint Vincent Avenue, when the accident occurred. The two men were doing dirt work, when Smith got caught in the dumpster, that was being pulled by a tractor, as it turned to the side to release the dirt it was carrying.

Smith said that as the dumpster turned to the side, his waist was caught by the machinery and then dirt as it spilled out and onto the ground. Fire Department paramedics evaluated and treated Smith for what appears to be a hyper-extension injury to his right leg. He was transported to Christus Schumpert Medical Center for further evaluation. ###