ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – A man in a dumpster had a brush with death when a garbage trunk picked up and emptied the dumpster – and it was all caught on camera. A good Samaritan who was in the right place at the right time alerted the truck’s driver and likely saved the man’s life.
“I heard him and saw him and so I ran over and told the driver, ‘hey, you have somebody in the back of your truck,'” said Jonny Ulibarri, the good Samaritan. “So, he stopped and he went and looked and that guy that got dumped in there was banging on the sides of the door or the truck.”
The stunning video shows the City of Albuquerque Solid Waste Department’s truck lifting the dumpster near Lomas Blvd. and San Mateo Blvd. The surveillance video shows the man moving around and yelling right before being dumped in the trash.
Ulibarri stopped the driver, who then climbed up the truck’s ladder to find the man. The man climbed down the ladder and seemingly went on with his day. The city’s Solid Waste Department said the driver caught up with the man the next day, who reassured him he was ok.
From the long drop into the truck to the active blade compacting the trash to possibly harmful materials in the trash itself, the Solid Waste Department is reminding people to stay away from dumpsters and active trucks. “It’s extremely dangerous to be in these bins, and we’re happy this gentleman was ok, but we want to make sure it doesn’t happen in the future,” said Alex Bukoski, Public Information Officer for the city’s Solid Waste Department.
The department said this happens about twice a year, and usually more in the winter months.
“There are tons of great resources out there from ACS, to HHH, to our Gateway Network. If people are struggling with homelessness, we have resources for them. We don’t want them in our dumpsters. We want to put them on a path so they can find housing stability, and we want to make sure they stay safe, too,” said Bukoski. “Safety is our number one priority at Solid Waste; not only making sure your trash gets disposed of right, but that it’s also done in a way that everybody stays safe.”
