TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (AP) — Western Indiana police say a county parks department worker died when a lawn mower flipped over in a pond, trapping him underwater.
The Tribune-Star of Terre Haute reports (http://bit.ly/p4CAUb) that Earl Slavens of Terre Haute died Monday morning in the accident at Prairie Creek Park in southern Vigo County.
Vigo County Detective Tim Osburn says Slavens was apparently mowing along the pond when the riding mower became stuck in the water. Slavens remained on the mower as a co-worker tried to pull it from the pond with a backhoe but the backhoe slid and the mower flipped over in waist-deep water.
Slavens was dead by the time other workers used a truck to pull the backhoe and mower from the water. It's unclear whether Slavens drowned or died from trauma.
