TULSA -- Tulsa police and fire crews are responding to a deadly accident involving a worker and an asphalt machine in south Tulsa.
The accident was reported just after 10 a.m. near 71st and Lewis in the parking lot of a Marriott hotel.
Police said the worker, 59-year old Rick Deeter, ended up under the asphalt machine.
Officers said the victim was driving the machine onto a trailer to have work done to it when it started jolting. They said the man was thrown out of the machine and rolled over. He was believed to have died instantly.
"The liability for this is going to be determined by someone else other than us more than likely," Sgt. Shane Tuell with the Tulsa Police Department said. "It does appear to be an accident. Part of the investigation will be if this was preventable or not
Deeter was trapped under the machine for hours Tuesday. The fire department had to bring out special equipment to remove the asphalt machine from on top of him. They ended up using air bags to lift up the equipment.
American Asphalt's logo was on the side of the trailer Deeter was loading the machine on. We called them but they said they did not want to comment and immediately hung up.
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