{"id":24802,"date":"2026-08-24T01:11:36","date_gmt":"2026-08-24T01:11:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/?p=24802"},"modified":"2026-08-24T01:11:36","modified_gmt":"2026-08-24T01:11:36","slug":"minnesota-tree-trimmer-accused-of-killing-coworker-during-equipment-horseplay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/?p=24802","title":{"rendered":"Minnesota tree trimmer accused of killing coworker during equipment horseplay"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

\n
\n

NEW<\/span>You can now listen to Fox News articles!\n <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

A tree-trimming employee has been charged with manslaughter after allegedly crushing his coworker\u2019s head with a hydraulic grapple while the pair were reportedly “f\u2014ing around” on the job, according to Minnesota authorities.<\/p>\n

The incident happened in Apple Valley on Thursday when Christopher Boone Crimmins, 34, was operating machinery on the back of a truck while his coworker, Tyler Anthony Lynch, 26, was on the ground cleaning up branches, according to a criminal complaint filed by Dakota County.<\/p>\n

Responding to reports of an incident, police discovered Lynch lying on the ground with “a significant amount of blood around him and significant trauma to his head,” the complaint said.<\/p>\n

Lynch was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the county.<\/p>\n

WORKERS WARNED OHIO TRENCH WAS TOO DEEP BUT WERE TOLD TO ENTER MINUTES BEFORE FATAL CAVE-IN: REPORT<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n
\"Christopher<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\n
\n
\n

Christopher Crimmins has been accused of recklessly operating a boom when he allegedly killed his coworker.<\/span> (Dakota County Jail\u00a0)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Authorities said Crimmins was operating a boom, a movable mechanical arm attached to a truck, when he and Lynch began messing around with their shadows.<\/p>\n

“He and the Victim were \u2018f\u2014ing around\u2019 and saw that the sunlight was casting shadows of both the grapple and of the Victim on the street,” the criminal complaint said.<\/p>\n

While looking at the shadows, Crimmins allegedly maneuvered the grapple so that its shadow appeared to grab Lynch\u2019s shadow.<\/p>\n

However, he did not realize that the grapple itself was moving toward Lynch\u2019s head.<\/p>\n

TWO WORKERS KILLED, SEVERAL INJURED AFTER EXPLOSIONS TEAR THROUGH OHIO RECYCLING FACILITY<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n
\"hydraulic<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\n
\n
\n

An employee operates a grapple to remove a tree from a residential property. A Minnesota tree-trimming worker was charged with second-degree manslaughter after allegedly crushing a coworker\u2019s head with a hydraulic grapple while the two were horsing around with their shadows on the job.<\/span> (Robert Nickelsberg\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

“Crimmins was not monitoring the actual grapple or Lynch. He then opened and closed the grapple, crushing Lynch\u2019s head,” the Dakota County Attorney’s Office said.<\/p>\n

A witness also saw the incident unfold and said the grapple appeared to “hit or pinch” Lynch\u2019s head as it approached him.<\/p>\n

WORKERS KILLED AND MANY TREATED AFTER REFINERY CHEMICAL RELEASE AS INVESTIGATORS PROBE CAUSE<\/strong><\/p>\n

Officers observed blood on the grapple, which was directly above Lynch, according to the complaint.<\/p>\n

Authorities alleged Crimmins was responsible for the incident through negligence, saying he created an “unreasonable risk” and “consciously takes chances of causing death or great bodily harm to another.”<\/p>\n

\n
\"hydraulic<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\n
\n
\n

A hydraulic grapple grips a large tree branch during a tree-trimming job.<\/span> (Matthias Rietschel\/picture alliance via Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Crimmins has been charged with one felony count of second-degree manslaughter. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine.<\/p>\n

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP<\/strong><\/p>\n

Officials said Crimmins was being held at the Dakota County Jail. Bail was set at $40,000 without conditions or $20,000 with conditions.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
\n

Bonny Chu is a Breaking and Trending News Writer for Fox News Digital<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! A tree-trimming employee has been charged with…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":24803,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24802","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sport"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24802","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=24802"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24802\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/24803"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=24802"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=24802"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=24802"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}