LaFayette, NY -- A Massachusetts man was hospitalized Wednesday after a bulldozer he was operating went out of control down a steep embankment at a gas pipeline work site in LaFayette. Roy Baltzer, 37, was operating the bulldozer off Eager Road in LaFayette shortly after 4 p.m. when the accident occurred, police said. The bulldozer traveled down a steep grade...
LaFayette, NY -- A Massachusetts man was hospitalized Wednesday after a bulldozer he was operating went out of control down a steep embankment at a gas pipeline work site in LaFayette.
Roy Baltzer, 37, was operating the bulldozer off Eager Road in LaFayette shortly after 4 p.m. when the accident occurred, police said. The bulldozer traveled down a steep grade about 1,800 or 1,900 feet, police said.
Baltzer was found about 1,100 feet from where the bulldozer began its descent.
Baltzer was taken to Upstate University Hospital, in Syracuse, where he was listed in stable condition with injuries not considered to be life-threatening.
State police and firefighters from LaFayette, Jamesville, Taunton and Tully responded to the scene, a Tennessee Gas Pipeline work site.
A spokesman for Tennessee Gas said Baltzer was working for a contractor, Patriot Pipeline.
State police said they didn’t know if the bulldozer’s fall was caused by operator error or mechanical failure. Police said they expected federal workplace safety investigators would look into the incident.
Contact Charles McChesney at cmcchesney@syracuse.com.