A worker was killed in Lake Wales, Florida, on Friday morning after a pickup truck struck him while he was preparing to collect a roll-off dumpster, police said.
Emergency crews were sent to the area near 1st Street South and Emerald Avenue at around 6:14 a.m., according to Daily Ridge, which cited Lake Wales Police Department Lt. Dale Hampton.
Hampton said the worker had stopped a blue truck to pick up the dumpster. The truck’s warning lights were on, and the worker was wearing a reflective vest. The worker had stepped out to wave traffic through so he could work when a white pickup truck hit him. The pickup suffered damage to its front end.
Preliminary scanner reports said the man became trapped beneath the white truck. Firefighters used lift bags to lift the vehicle and free him before he was taken by ambulance to a hospital in Lake Wales.
Hampton confirmed the crash was fatal and said the man’s family had been notified. His name was not immediately released.
Speed is not considered a factor in the crash, Hampton said. Investigators were speaking with a witness who had been in a vehicle behind the blue truck, and they were obtaining camera footage as part of the investigation.
The Lake Wales Police Department, the Lake Wales Fire Department, and Polk County Fire Rescue responded to the scene. Police said more information is expected in a department release later in the day.
Source: Daily Ridge (https://dailyridge.com/2026/10/30/pedestrian-killed-in-early-morning-crash-in-lake-wales/)
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