Man lying under tarp run over by Grant PUD maintenance truck
Incident occurred Monday on service road near Moses Lake.
MOSES LAKE — A man sleeping under a tarp was injured Monday morning after being run over by a Grant PUD maintenance truck spraying weeds along a power line service road near Moses Lake, reported the utility district and Grant County Sheriff’s Office.
The incident occurred around 8:15 a.m. on the transmission line corridor adjacent to State Route 17 between Randolph Road and Road G-NE.
Authorities said the 61-year-old man was lying beneath the tarp when approached by the PUD vehicle. It is common for debris from the highway to blow onto the service road, and the driver was unaware of the man until he felt a bump crossing over the tarp and heard the man call out, the sheriff’s office said.
“When the employee recognized what had happened, he immediately stopped, called 911, and stayed with the injured person until help arrived,” the PUD said in a press release.
The man was transported to Samaritan Hospital for medical care. In a Facebook post Tuesday morning, the sheriff’s office indicated the man’s legs had been injured but his updated condition was not immediately known.
Neither the name of the injured man or the vehicle driver were initially disclosed.
The PUD said it is fully cooperating with the sheriff’s investigation and is also conducting an internal investigation.
“We are hoping for healing and comfort for the injured person,” the district said.
