A maintenance worker at a popular Ohio bowling alley was crushed to death in what a former colleague described as a "freak accident" on Thursday, prompting an investigation by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
David Geiger, 53, was pulled to his death at Northwest Lanes in Fairfield when his clothing got entangled in a pin-setting machine while he was working to repair it, WCPO reported. The mishap was investigated by an OSHA inspector at the bowling alley on Friday.
Although there were bowlers and other workers inside the Fairfield bowling alley at the time of the incident, none of the customers witnessed what transpired before the tragic accident occurred, WCPO-TV reported. It was only after Geiger failed to respond to repair calls when another worker discovered him.
"He was sent back for a problem with one of the lanes," Officer Doug Day of the Fairfield Police Department told the station. "He would have been back there, they tried to call him, and when he didn't answer the call they went back there and they found him."
Geiger was part of the bowling business for almost three decades, a former co-worker Nathan Hursell told WCPO.
"Dave was a stand-up guy," Hursell told WCPO. "He knew exactly what he was doing back there. It's one of those things where you don't think twice of that happening. It's just a common spot that we get in the machines and it's just a freak accident."
"The machines are about 40-50 years old - they're good machines but just like any running machine they're dangerous - they got gears, pulleys, everything's running back there," he continued. "I couldn't believe it."
Owners of the family-run operation said they were "sad and upset" by the death of Geiger, who had worked at the bowling alley for four years, according to the Associated Press.
Meanwhile, Geiger's death was ruled to be an accidental traumatic asphyxia by the coroner in Butler County after an autopsy was conducted on Friday.
