A man is crushed to death by a truck during a busy auto auction in Newstead. It happened Tuesday morning around 10:30 at the Adesa Auto Auction in Newstead. Police say the victim, 54-year-old William Bushnell of Gowanda, was at the auction working for an auto dealer, and he was walking through the bays where the vehicles are displayed to potential bidders when a worker who was pulling a truck in a bay lost control.
Witnesses describe a chaotic scene following the accident. "There was just a lot of people all over. There were some females in there crying," says Dan Glaser, an auto dealer who always attends the Tuesday auctions.
The driver of the truck, 52-year-old Roseann Adornetto, told sheriff's investigators she been working as a temporary employee moving vehicles at the auctions for the past year, but she doesn't know exactly what happened this Tuesday morning when the Dodge truck she was pulling into one of the auction bays suddenly accelerated.
"She'd put it in 'park' she told us to rev the engine, and then when she put it from 'park' into 'drive' that's when the vehicle jumped forward and to the left," says Sgt. Thomas Daugherty of the Erie County Sheriff's Office.
The truck pinned Bushnell against the wall and investigators say the force collapsed part of the wall. Bushnell was rushed to the Erie County Medical Center but he died from his injuries. "I think he was killed instantly. He wasn't moving. They tried to resuscitate him. They couldn't," says Glaser.
Investigators impounded the truck to check it for mechanical problems. "She (Adornetto) told us at the hospital the vehicle was running rough and she was revving the engine to keep it running. She may have possibly accidentally stepped on accelerator instead of brake," says Sgt. Daugherty.
The Sheriff's Office is still investigating and they haven't determined yet what charges, if any, Roseann Adornetto will face. They may also take a closer look at whether there are any safety issues that need to be addressed at Adesa in light of this accident.
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