Autopsy: Man crushed in trash truck

By Leslie Wood
Staff Writer

GALLUP — Investigators determined the 37-year-old Navajo, N.M. man who was discovered in a local landfill on April 29 died from being compacted in a waste department vehicle.

A waste department employee found human remains while dumping a load of trash at the Northwest New Mexico Landfill off of Hasler Valley Road at about 11 a.m. The individual was identified as Jackson Poyer, Jr.

During an autopsy conducted at the Office of the Medical Examiner in Albuquerque, medical personnel found Poyer had sustained injuries such as a broken ankle and a pelvic fracture.

The office is awaiting toxicology results to determine whether Poyer was intoxicated.

Erin Toadlena-Pablo, a spokeswoman for the Gallup Police Department, said investigators conducted interviews with Poyer's family and learned he told them he was traveling to Albuquerque on the weekend of April 21; however, Poyer's acquaintances said he was seen drinking alcohol at the Class Act bar prior to the incident. Class Act employees also confirmed to investigators that Poyer visited the bar.

Toadlena-Pablo said Poyer most likely crawled into the nearby J.C. Penney trash Dumpster while he was under the influence of alcohol. Officials found Poyer's shoe print on the side of the large dumpster, which she described as being clean compared to other area dumpsters. She said little was inside the dumpster except for a few papers.

Investigators suspect no foul play contributed to Poyer's death, but that he was killed when a waste department employee emptied the dumpster into the vehicle and compacted the load of trash.

Toadlena-Pablo said the employee had made at least 40 stops to pick up trash that day.

She said she is not aware of the waste department's procedures when it comes to picking up trash and whether they are required to check the trash before dumping a load into their vehicle.


Teenager scavenges through car at Wal-Mart
Police were called to Wal-Mart, 1650 W. Maloney, on Saturday after a customer reported a teenager was scavenging through her vehicle that was parked in the lot.

Toadlena-Pablo said officers were dispatched to the store at about 2:15 p.m. after a Wal-Mart customer found a boy, between the ages of 13 and 15, inside her vehicle. The woman had gone inside the store and reportedly forgot to lock her vehicle's door.

Police found no visible damage to the vehicle and did not locate the teenager.

Toadlena-Pablo said the incident should serve as a warning to Gallup residents.

"People need to make sure they lock their doors when (their vehicles) are unattended," she said.