SPRINGDALE — A 50-yearold Tyson truck driver died lateWednesday after being pinned between his truck’s trailer and another trailer at the Berry Street plant, police said.
Merrill Reynolds of Gentry died at the plant. The accident happened about11 p.m., said Lt. Kevin Lewis, Springdale Police Department spokesman.
Reynolds backed his truck’strailer up to the other trailer, got out and walked to the rear of his trailer, Lewis said. Reynolds apparently did not set the brake, which allowed the truck to roll back and pinhim, Lewis said. He was the only driver at the scene, police said.
A plant worker phoned police at 11:20 p.m., saying someone was pinned between two trailers, according to police records. Police arrived at 11:30 p.m., and called for a coroner at 11:37 p.m., according to police records.
Worth Sparkman, Tyson public relations manager, said the accident happened at a trailer staging area adjacent to the Berry Street production plant.
He said Tyson safety and transportation personnel are investigating and federal safety officials have been notified. Sparkman said Tyson officials don’t recall a fatality at their Northwest Arkansas plants in recent history.
More than 170 workers at the Berry Street plant were hospitalized in June after an employee accidentally mixed two cleaning chemicals to create chlorine gas. All were treated and released from hospitals.
Reynolds served on the Gentry School Board beginning at the Sept. 17, 2002, election and continuing until the September election in 2007 - a 5-year term, according to Gentry School District superintendent Randy Barrett. He was president of the board his last year, Barrett said.
"Merrill was a friend of Gentry Public Schools as a whole,” Barrett said.
“His ardent love for the athletic programs was balanced by his same interest in academics.
He held the welfare of all Gentry programs in high regard. I found him to be utterly honest and his honesty always tempered by compassion.
He was a good man and I was proud to call him my friend."
Reynolds’ funeral service was Monday at First Baptist Church in Gentry.
Burial was at Fairmount Cemetery, near Gentry.
News, Pages 1 on 08/10/2011