Man and Dog killed by stump grinder
A man who tried to save his friend's dog from being pulled into the blade of a stump grinder was caught in the machine and killed Sunday morning at a hunting camp area east of Lake Wales.
Robert J. Wagner, 25, of Port St. Lucie, was with a friend, John Santilli, at a hunting camp in the River Ranch area and was using a stump grinder to grind down palmetto stumps when the accident happened about 9:40 a.m., Polk County sheriff's spokeswoman Donna Wood said.
Santilli's 6-month-old Weimaraner, Maggie, was tied by a leash to a tree and got too close to the machine. Her leash became entangled, reeling her in, according to Wood.
Wagner tried to free her and was also entangled and was cut by the blade. He died of lacerations and major head and body trauma, Wood said. He died before emergency workers arrived.
The dog also died, Wood said.
Wagner and Santilli, who is also from Port. St. Lucie, had arrived at the hunting camp Saturday morning. The campsite is in woods about 1.7 miles off County Road 630 East. Deputies had to use four-wheel drive vehicles to get to the camp, Wood said.
Polk County Emergency Medical Services and firefighters also were sent to the camp, Wood said.
The Vermeer SC252 stump grinder, according to the Vermeer company's Web site, is a gas-powered model that weighs about
1,000 pounds, is 35 inches wide and has a vertical wheel blade. It can be hauled behind a truck, and is designed to be narrow so that it can maneuver in tight spaces to get to tree stumps.