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MENTONE - A Pierceton man is dead after an industrial accident Tuesday at Valley Fresh Inc., formerly Kralis Brothers Foods, 2601 S. Tinkey Road, Mentone.
Noe Acuahuitl, 19, of 3104 E. Wooster Road Lot 49, Pierceton, died at 7:55 a.m. today at Parkview Hospital, Fort Wayne, from injuries suffered in the accident.
According to a Kosciusko County Sheriff's Department report, officers were dispatched to Valley Fresh at approximately 9:54 p.m. Tuesday in response to a report of a man caught in a machine. When officers arrived, Multi-Township EMS personnel were putting Acuahuitl in the ambulance and performing CPR.
Miguel Munoz, West CR 200S, Warsaw, told officers that at approximately 9:45 p.m. he discovered Acuahuitl tangled up in the feather drum, a large roller that chickens pass through during processing. Munoz yelled for help and Steven Duff arrived.
Duff, of Rochester, told police that when he arrived to the roller, Acuahuitl was lying on top of the roller, tangled up in the feather drum. He said Acuahuitl was wearing a rubber rain suit, pants and a coat, which was caught in the feather drum, compressing his body.
Duff cut the clothing away and pulled Acuahuitl clear of the roller.
Duff said just before 9:45 p.m. he walked through the area and everything was fine.
Another employee, Vicki Dills, Akron, told police she was there when Acuahuitl was discovered. She said he was tangled up in the machine because his clothes were caught. He was on his back, face up, and his clothing was extremely tight around his body from being tangled up in the roller, she said.
Acuahuitl was transported to Kosciusko Community Hospital and then to Parkview Hospital, Fort Wayne.
Assisting at the scene were Multi-Township EMS, Mentone Fire Department, Mentone Police and KCSD.
