A Minnesota tree-trimmer accused of playing with the shadow of a hydraulic grapple has been charged with manslaughter after the machine allegedly closed on his co-worker’s head and killed him.
Christopher Boone Crimmins, 34, faces one count of second-degree manslaughter in the death of 26-year-old Tyler Anthony Lynch, according to a criminal complaint filed in Dakota County.
The men were working Thursday afternoon in Apple Valley, where Lynch was gathering leaves on the ground while Crimmins controlled machinery from the back of a truck.
Crimmins told police he and Lynch were “f***ing around” after the sun cast the grapple’s outline near the outline of Lynch’s head.
The complaint said Crimmins was looking at the shapes on the ground rather than at Lynch when he maneuvered the grapple to make it seem as if the machine were grabbing Lynch’s shadow.
Crimmins told police he did not realize the real equipment had closed around Lynch’s head.
KSTP reported that the men had been playing “shadow puppets,” and that Crimmins was the only person on the crew licensed to operate the grapple.
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Police were sent to the 5200 block of 132nd Street West for a severely injured man. Lynch was pronounced dead at the scene.
The complaint said Lynch had a significant head injury and a large amount of blood around his body when police arrived.
A witness later told investigators the grapple appeared to “hit or pinch” Lynch.
Authorities accused Crimmins of “culpable negligence” and creating an “unreasonable risk.”
Crimmins could face up to 10 years in prison if convicted. His next court date is Sept. 10 in Hastings, Minnesota.
The Apple Valley death was the strangest of several recent cases in which co-workers were accused of turning jobsite friction into violence.
At the University of Wisconsin-Madison, police said a lab employee targeted a colleague after losing out on a promotion he wanted.
Makoto Kuroda, 41, was charged with recklessly endangering safety and tampering with household products after police said chemicals from the university’s Influenza Research Institute were used to harm a co-worker.
University police first went to the institute April 7 after someone reported an “unknown odor” coming from an office area. Items removed from that area later tested positive for chemicals.
Police said Kuroda confessed a few days later to trying to poison a colleague.
A criminal complaint obtained by WISC said Kuroda told police he put chemicals from the institute’s laboratory into a water bottle and shoes belonging to a co-worker he had known since 2017.
Kuroda reportedly sent another co-worker a message after the alleged poisoning.
“I did it. I have also informed the person himself,” he wrote, according to the complaint.
Police said the chemicals were paraformaldehyde and Trizol that had been taken from Kuroda’s refrigerator at work.
The complaint said the chemicals were mixed together and placed in each of the victim’s shoes. Kuroda also allegedly put 0.5 milliliters of paraformaldehyde in the victim’s water bottle.
Kuroda reportedly told police that 10 milliliters would be a lethal dose.
Investigators said Kuroda tied the alleged poisoning to a promotion dispute, telling police the colleague had received a second promotion into a job Kuroda wanted.
In Nashville, police said a drink argument between U-Haul employees ended with one worker dead and another arrested for criminal homicide.
Devin Rice, 23, was arrested Aug. 5 after 56-year-old Fredrick Lytton was shot during a shift at a U-Haul store in Nashville, Tennessee.
The Metropolitan Nashville Police Department said Rice admitted that he and Lytton had argued over a drink before the shooting.
Police accused Rice of pulling out a pistol and shooting Lytton several times. Lytton died after arriving at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
Rice allegedly left the area after the shooting before he was arrested.
In Arkansas, a $100 moped dispute allegedly led to a recycling worker being burned with a blowtorch used to cut metal.
Joshua Warren Campbell, 37, was charged with battery after the March incident at Metal Man Recycling in Trumann, Arkansas, and later posted $10,000 bond.
KAIT reported that the Poinsett County Sheriff’s Office investigated the alleged attack on an unnamed man who worked with Campbell.
An affidavit obtained by KAIT placed Campbell and the victim at Metal Man Recycling on March 23, when Campbell allegedly aimed the blowtorch at the victim’s back.
The victim suffered second- and third-degree burns, according to the affidavit. He also threw himself to the ground, suffering bruising and broken ribs.
The burns reportedly required surgery and skin grafts.
The victim later told Trumann Police Department detectives that he had overheard Campbell and another co-worker talking about wanting to attack him.
Another person reportedly recorded Campbell admitting that he burned the victim on purpose.
The affidavit said Campbell referred in the recording to the victim purportedly owing another co-worker’s father $100 for a moped.
Campbell also allegedly said he “felt bad for it” and “wished it was the other way around.”
“He don’t deserve no karma like that, I know that [expletive] hurt,” Campbell reportedly said.
