An on-duty Department of Sanitation worker was killed after falling from the truck he was operating at the Queens East Garage in Douglaston on Saturday after he was run over by a 65,000-pound vehicle.
Photo via Google Maps.
Flags are flying at half-staff at all city buildings across the five boroughs to honor a Department of Sanitation veteran who was killed in the line of duty in Northeast Queens on Saturday.
Mayor Eric Adams and DSNY Commissioner Jessica Tisch rushed to the Queens East Garage on Sept. 21, where 54-year-old Richard Errico fell from the cab of a vehicle he was operating at around 5:43 p.m.
Errico was making a U-turn at the facility at 75-05 Douglaston Pkwy. and was crushed by the 65,000-pound 2018 Mack Heil truck.
The 19-year DSNY veteran, a married father of three from East Meadow, was working alone when the freak accident occurred, police said.
“Our thoughts are with Richard’s family, friends, coworkers, and everyone who knew and loved him,” Adams said. “I met with Richard’s family tonight and shared how deeply sorry I was for their loss. Richard kept our streets and communities safe and clean for more than 19 years, and we should all be keeping Richard and his family in our prayers.”
Police from the 105th Precinct responded to a 911 call of a vehicle collision at the location and found Errico unconscious and unresponsive lying on the ground with trauma to his head and body. EMS arrived and pronounced Errico dead at the scene.
“Our department mourns the loss of Sanitation Worker Richard Errico, a 19-year veteran who served the people of Douglaston, Little Neck and Bayside as one of the Strongest,” Tisch said. “He did it proudly. I ask all New Yorkers to pray for his family — for Carol, Brooke, Paige and Tommy, as Mayor Adams and I did. May Richard’s memory be a blessing.”
An investigation by the NYPD’s Highway District Collision Investigation Squad determined that Errico was making…
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