Man Rescued After Getting Stuck Inside Garbage Truck

HARRISON TOWNSHIP (WWJ) - Macomb County deputies have rescued a man who found himself trapped in the back of a garbage truck.

The 40-year-old man — known to be homeless — was taken to a local hospital after getting struck in the front-loading garbage truck for over two hours Wednesday morning.

Macomb County Sheriff Anthony Wickersham says investigators believe the man was sleeping in a dumpster behind the United Methodist Church in Mount Clemens when a garbage hauler emptied it into his truck.

He made more than a dozen more stops before the accidental stowaway was discovered.

"At which point he went over to the McDonald's in Harrison Township and he heard voices coming from inside the truck," Wickersham said. "This truck was equipped with a camera system. He went and looked and he could see an arm inside the garbage. That's when he immediately drove to the fire department just down the street."

Harrison Township firefighters and EMS were able to extricate the man from the truck.

He'd suffered what Wickeram described as serious injuries — possibly from having been crushed by mechanisms inside the truck.

"We're not sure," Wickeram said, "but the driver did tell us that probably on multiple occasions he compacted the trash inside the truck."

No charges will be filed against the driver who has been cooperating with investigators.

The sheriff said the victim is known to deputies as a transient who typically stays in an around Mount Clemens. His name hasn't been released.