A 21-year-old Grand Junction man who died Wednesday in a construction accident when an 8-foot-long concrete pipe rolled onto him in a ditch was not intoxicated or under the influence of drugs, authorities say.
Daniel Cleveland was taken shortly after the morning accident to St. Mary’s Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, according to a Mesa County Coroner’s Office news release. The cause of death was an accident.
The pipe, which was 30 inches in diameter, had to be lifted off Cleveland with heavy equipment, said Battalion Chief Rob Ferguson of the Grand Junction Fire Department.
Construction workers were laying a stormwater-drain system at a new housing development at 29 Road and Brodick Way when the accident happened, Ferguson said.
Grand Junction police and U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration inspectors are investigating the fatal accident, he said.
Kirk Mitchell: 303-954-1206 or kmitchell@denverpost.com
