Homeless Texas man dies after being crushed in trash compactor

Fort Worth - A homeless Texas man sleeping in a dumpster on a freezing night died after he was accidentally crushed by a trash compactor.

Fort Worth police say that 41-year-old Chad Adams was likely seeking shelter from freezing weather when he climbed into a dumpster that was picked up by a compactor truck early Wednesday morning. Temperatures had dipped to as low as 26ºF (-3ºC) that night and it is not uncommon for homeless people to take refuge in garbage dumpsters when the mercury plummets. Unfortunately for Adams, a sanitation truck came by and emptied the dumpster into its compactor, crushing him along with the garbage. The truck driver heard Adams screaming as the powerful machine began working. Paramedics arrived at the scene shortly thereafter and performed CPR on Adams, who was in full cardiac arrest as he was rescued from the compactor. He was rushed to John Peter Smith Hospital for emergency surgery but died soon after. The Tarrant County Medical Examiner's Office cited a crushed pelvis as the cause of Adams' death. Earlier this year, a fugitive was crushed to death in a dumpster equipped with an electronically-activated compactor while attempting to flee from police in Reno, Nevada.