A man was crushed to death Wednesday afternoon while working on his SUV in an alley in east Denver.
According to Denver Fire Department spokesman Phil Champagne, the man appeared to be halfway beneath the sport utility vehicle, working on its differential, when the SUV slipped off a ramp.
Champagne said someone in the alley, between the 500 blocks of Lafayette and Humboldt streets, saw the accident about 1 p.m. and immediately called for help.
Kyle Maatougui, who lives on Humboldt Street directly across the alley from where the accident happened, said he often saw the man working on the SUV. He said the man is in his early 40s and the vehicle that fell onto him was a maroon Jeep Grand Cherokee.
Maatougui said that about 1 p.m., he heard commotion and went outside and saw the man under the SUV.
He said he believed a construction crew, repairing a pipeline in the alley, called for help when the Jeep fell.
Champagne said firefighters used inflated air bags to lift the SUV off the victim.
