An auto shop owner mistakenly hit the gas pedal of a pickup truck that was in for brake repairs, and the vehicle fatally pinned a worker standing in front, authorities said Monday.
The incident occurred late Friday afternoon at Backstreet Auto on W. Canyon Avenue in Montevideo, Minn., according to police.
Richard Fultz, 55, of Montevideo, was pinned between the pickup and a tool chest that was up against a concrete wall, said Police Capt. Ken Schule. Emergency responders declared Fultz dead at the scene.
Schule said he "doesn't anticipate" that shop owner Sidney Winters will be prosecuted, because "there is nothing showing" that the death was anything other than accidental.
"The stories matched" between the pickup's unidentified owner, who was at the scene, and Winters, the captain added.
Schule described Fultz as "one of Winters' good friends."
The pickup was brought in for brake work, the captain said. As Winters was about to move the pickup, and with Fultz in front directing, the shop owner simultaneously pressed down on the brake and the gas pedal, Schule said.
The brakes "weren't grabbing," and the pickup quickly pinned Fultz, the captain added.
