AUGUST 20, 2015
SEBASTOPOL, CALIFORNIA (CBS SF) —
An employee of a tree-cutting business died Tuesday afternoon when he was struck by a large section of a tree in unincorporated Sebastopol, according to the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office.
The Sonoma County coroner’s office identified the employee as 21-year-old David Mendoza of Santa Rosa.
Sheriff’s Lt. Steve Brown said Mendoza worked for the Santa Rosa-based company North Bay Tree Care.
The owner of the company, Ben Cervantes, was cutting a large pine tree on a property in the 2900 block of Thorn Road southeast of Sebastopol around 2:50 p.m., according to the sheriff’s office.
Cervantes was trimming branches and was approximately 80 feet up the tree when he cut off a large section of the top of the tree, sheriff’s officials said.
Mendoza was on the ground below the tree when he was struck by a log eight inches in diameter, according to the sheriff’s office.
Cervantes immediately climbed down the tree and began cutting the log off of Mendoza. Medical personnel responded but Mendoza was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the sheriff’s office.
The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health was investigating the industrial accident.