Fallen Towers

A tow operator died November 15 in a single-vehicle crash near Interstate 44 in Joplin, Missouri. According to the Joplin Police Department, operator Bradley E. Skaggs, age 18 of Lanagan, Missouri, was the only occupant in a 2003 Chevrolet tow truck that rolled over into a ditch on the roadway shoulder just east of Rangeline…

A Florida tow operator was killed Thursday, Nov. 10, on the Florida Turnpike in Orange County. According to the Florida Highway Patrol, the operator, a 42-year-old man from Poinciana, was assisting at a single-vehicle crash. He was outside of his truck with his warning lights activated, and a FHP trooper with lights activated was also…

A tow operator was killed Tuesday, November 8, as a result of a towing accident in Twentynine Palms, Calif. A sheriff’s report stated that at approximately 5 p.m., operator Michael Micheletti, 42, was attempting to tow a tractor-trailer when the tractor “slid off the tow truck’s lift, rolling backwards and trapping him under the tractor.”…

An Amarillo, Texas, tow operator was killed Friday, Oct. 21, after being struck by a semi-trailer on I-40 approximately 36 miles west of Vega, Texas. Texas Department of Public Safety officials said operator Scottie Dunn, 42, was standing on the shoulder of I-40 westbound at approximately 5:15 a.m. after hooking to a semi-trailer. An oncoming…

The 47-year-old tow operator who was struck and killed Saturday, Oct. 8, at 3:20 a.m. while assisting a disabled vehicle on the Long Island Expressway near Queens, New York, has been identified as Carlos Santiago of Howard Beach. According to hews reports, Santiago and the driver of the disabled vehicle were in the westbound lanes…

A 22-year-old tow operator from North Lauderdale, Florida, was struck and killed on the Florida Turnpike near Plantation at approximately 5 a.m. Saturday, October 8. The Florida Highway Patrol said the operator, who has yet to be identified, was outside of his truck after arriving to assist a disabled vehicle when the driver of a…

A tow operator was killed in a crash with a freight train Tuesday, October 4, near Ravenel, South Carolina. An initial investigation revealed that Kevin Scott, 52, was driving a flatbed tow truck at approximately 4:30 p.m. when he attempted to cross train tracks near Salters Hill Road and Drayton Street and was hit by…

A tow operator was struck and killed Thursday evening, September 15, on the I-87 Northway in Wilton, N.Y. Alex W. Bleickhardt, 33, of Pottersville, was preparing to tow a disabled box truck at approximately 10:41 p.m. when a vehicle driven by Justin P. Rodriguez, 41, of Moreau, veered onto the road shoulder and struck the…

A tow operator died Thursday, August 25, from injuries sustained in a vehicular crash with a tractor-trailer on Interstate 84 in Waterbury, Connecticut. The Connecticut State Police said Zachary James Carlson, 20, of Danbury, was driving a medium-duty tow truck at approximately 8:30 p.m. near Exit 23 westbound when he failed to “slow down due…

A tow operator was struck and killed early Friday, July 29, near Klamath Falls, Ore. According to news reports, operator Spencer Hughes, 32, of Klamath Falls, was working to retrieve a vehicle from the side of Highway 140 near milepost 49 at approximately 2:13 a.m. when he was struck by a Ford F-150 traveling southbound.…