A 49-year-old construction worker died at a Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza construction site Monday morning after a tractor rolled and trapped him underneath, officials said.
Gaston Meza Rebollar, of Lake Elsinore, died by accident of blunt traumatic injuries, according to the LA County Medical Examiner’s Office.
“We are deeply saddened by this tragic loss,” said Jason Lombard, managing director for the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza Partnership, according to the Los Angeles Sentinel. “Our heartfelt condolences are with the worker’s family, friends and colleagues.”
The LA Fire Department said in a press release that a heavy equipment operator was able to remove the tractor before fire department personnel arrived. Paramedics pronounced Rebollar dead just before 11 a.m., according to the medical examiner’s office.
LA Police Department officers responded to the incident shortly after 11:30 a.m., according to Officer Tony Im, and created a death investigation report. The death appears to be accidental, Im said.
Mall developers broke ground in March on a new housing development at the historic shopping center. The first phase of the project will see 92 townhomes go up on a lot bordered by Santa Rosalia Drive, Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Crenshaw Boulevard.
