Inspection Detail

Inspection: 1664219.015 - Tegeler Wrecker & Crane

Inspection Information - Office: Iowa 0751910

Investigation Summary

At 2:20 a.m. on April 17, 2023, Employee #1 was responding to a stranded 56-passenger charter bus with a broken drive shaft. The employee deployed proper safety beacons, lights, etc., and secured the bus to his heavy tow truck/wrecker. Employee #1 planned to remove the rear tandem axles to free the wheels of the bus in order to tow it. That plan did not work, so Employee #1 called a colleague for back up. A coworker arrived at the scene. the coworker stated in an interview, he was talking to Employee #1 while he was still under the bus working, when he heard a loud "thud" as a car passed. The coworker called repeatedly for Employee #1, who did not respond. At approximately 2:20 a.m., a late-model Jeep Patriot traveling at a high rate of speed in the west-bound lane of I-80, struck Employee #1 as he was retrieving his tools. The coworker #1 called "911." The coworker 1 rolled over Employee #1 and attempted CPR which was unsuccessful. Employee #1 was pronounced dead at the scene. Employee #1 was killed instantly as the result of massive blunt-force trauma to the head, body and multiple organ systems.

Keywords: Blunt force trauma, Bus, CPR, Head, Motor Vehicle, Struck By, Tow Truck, Traffic Accident