By Ileana Morales, Times Staff Writer
Friday, October 15, 2010
TAMPA — A man known to search trash bins for useful items died early Friday when a garbage truck driver accidentally set a trash bin on top of him, Hillsborough sheriff's deputies said.
John Gatling, a Waste Services truck driver, didn't notice James Hunker searching through the trash bin at 13722 23rd Street N when Gatling picked it up with his truck, deputies said.
It's not clear how, but Gatling ended up lowering the bin on top of Hunker, said Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Debbie Carter.
"We'll probably never know how it actually occurred," Carter said.
Deputies said Hunker died at the scene shortly before 8 a.m. He was 55. He lived at Shady Oaks Living Center, 2208 E 138th Ave.
As investigators examined the scene, the man's body was beneath a sheet at the end of the apartment complex parking lot, near a parking space. He was next to the trash bin, which was connected to a garbage truck, and a toppled shopping cart and some garbage was strewn nearby.
Witnesses told deputies the victim was often seen searching through trash bins.