Sunset Park Resident Pinned Between Dump Trucks And Killed

EAST FLATBUSH – A 24-year old dump truck driver was killed while standing in between two trucks, when one driver backed up his truck, pinning him.

On Friday, November 13 at around 12:21 p.m., Saqueo Mejia, a Sunset Park resident was standing in between two trucks at the DeCostole Recycling and Transfer Station on Troy Avenue between Farragut and Glenwood Roads. According to the NYPD investigation, a 31-year-old driver backed up his 1997 Ford CF8 dump truck momentarily and pinned the young man against the other truck. The driver did not know he had pinned Mejia until witnesses told him, the NYPD said. He then moved the truck and remained at the scene.

The Daily News reported that Mejia “was on his lunch break when a co-worker asked him to close the truck’s back gate just prior to the crash outside the DeCostole Recycling and Transfer Station.” He was found unconscious. He was taken to NYC Health and Hospitals/Kings County and was pronounced dead.

Mejia came to Brooklyn five years ago “and regularly sent money home to support his parents and five brothers still in Guatemala,” the Daily News reported. He lived in Sunset Park with his older brother and nephew and loved to play soccer.

“[Mejia’s] pursuit of the American Dream has come to a devastating end in an accident that could have been avoided,” Council Member Farah Louis said. “I am working with Council Member Carlos Menchaca and the local precinct to address this matter and assist the affected family. As the NYPD conduct their investigation, my thoughts and prayers are with the Mejia family, who have lost a son, brother, and breadwinner.”