A gruesome accident happened in a public area with dozens of people watching. A safe, weighing over 1,000 pounds, crushed a man's legs. It happened at Fulton Mall just after 11am on Monday.
Three movers were loading the safe onto a truck to take it to another business on the mall. The victim was bracing it on a lift ramp when it tipped back on him, badly injuring his legs.
Cell phone video taken by a witness shows the victim's legs bent back and underneath him. The safe, which weighs about 1,200 pounds, apparently fell on him from a lift ramp. Armando Toribio and his son watched the terrible accident from inside their jewelry store. They rushed out to help.
"He can't move, somebody help, help!" said Toribio.
His son says many people watched as he and several others struggled to lift the safe off the victim.
"We tried to pick it up, but we couldn't, we're only six [men]. Then two more random people joined us so it was two security guards, the two workers, us two and two other random people. Then we finally picked it up," said Armando Toribio Jr.
James Langenfeld watched the commotion from a distance. As he got closer he saw the victim's injuries.
"Both his legs were crushed and his knee cap was broken in half bleeding out. My concern was, wow, all the kids that saw that," said Langenfeld.
Witnesses say the man was conscious throughout the ordeal. He was taken to CRMC by ambulance. Firefighters later washed his blood from the sidewalk. It's a gruesome, devastating accident that happened in an instant.
"I kinda felt sick to my stomach after seeing the injury to the gentleman and I feel bad for him. I know he's totally in pain," said Patrick Farris, a witness.
The owner of the moving company said this is the first accident with major injuries in many years. He was going to the hospital to check on the victim, but it's unknown what his condition is now.