A man who chased down a runaway garbage truck on Northern Boulevard was killed Friday morning after the vehicle sideswiped a utility pole, Nassau County police said.
The incident took place around 6:30 a.m. near Roslyn Estates, as Rudolph Skakel, 55, of Uniondale, attempted to regain control of the truck by jumping onto a side step on the passenger side of the vehicle, police said.
Skakel, an employee of the Maspeth-based Basin Haulage, had left the truck unattended when it began to roll away eastbound on Northern Boulevard.
Once Skakel was back aboard the vehicle, it struck a utility pole in front of 1050 Northern Boulevard, police said, killing him.
Though the incident was investigated by the Nassau County Police Department’s homicide squad, authorities do not suspect any criminality at this time.
Police did not disclose why the truck began to roll away.
A Basin Haulage employee said Friday afternoon that “obviously we’re upset about [the incident],” but the company’s owner was not immediately available for comment.
The vehicle, a 2011 Mack garbage truck, was examined at the scene by the police department’s motor carrier unit and released to Basin Haulage employees.
