Drunken man survived being compacted twice in a garbage truck

Published On: Thursday, November 1, 2012 12:17 PM
By: John Roberts

27-year-old Justin Gilpatrick

Justin Gilpatrick, 27, from Portland Oregon, was drinking at a bar called “Club 205” early one morning. When he was ready to leave he realized that he was too drunk to drive, so he made a smart decision not to drive home by himself. Instead he decided to sleep in a dumpster filled with cardboard boxes until he sobered up, but he didn't realize that it was the night the trash was to be picked up.
       
At 1:00 AM the Waste Management recycling truck arrived to empty the dumpster. Gilpatrick who was sleeping inside was dumped into the truck's recycling compactor along with the cardboard boxes. The driver had no idea the drunken man was trapped in the back of his truck.

The driver compacted the load of recyclables twice with Gilpatrick inside.  After a quarter of a mile, the driver stopped the truck when he heard Gilpatrick screaming, said Waste Management spokesperson Jackie Lang. Gilpatrick was  bruised but he was not killed since the compactor was still relatively empty.

The driver was shaken up by the sight of a man lying in the back of his garbage truck. The driver took Gilpatrick out of the truck and called emergency services. Around 2:45 AM he was taken to the
 hospital with minor injuries.

Sgt. Pete Simpson of the Portland Police Bureau commended Gilpatrick for not driving drunk, “He knew he's too drunk to drive so he decides not to drive, which is a great decision. But it was followed by a really bad decision, going to sleep in a dumpster that gets dumped into a truck," Simpson said.
 
The Portland Police Bureau does not expect any charges to be filed in this incident.