Hiding Fugitive Crushed to Death in Reno Trash Compactor
Reno fugitive was fleeing police when a trash compactor crushed him to death.
June 15, 2012— -- A Reno fugitive hoped sliding down a trash chute would help him lose the police officers hot on his tail. Instead, it crushed him.
When Reno Municipal Court marshals identified Rodney Wright, 37, as the man on an outstanding warrant at 11 a.m. Wednesday, they called the police to help arrest him.
Pedaling away on a bicycle on a downtown street, Wright eventually crashed near a river, ran into an apartment complex and slid down a trash chute, triggering a compactor that crushed him, according to Reno police.
After a search of the apartment complex failed to find Rodney, police officers decided to call it quits.
But at 11:24 a.m., a building employee pointed them to the trash compactor where they found Wright severely injured.
Officers tried to keep Wright alive, and he was pronounced dead at a hospital. An autopsy conducted Thursday indicated that Wright had suffered injuries consistent with being crushed.
The warrant for Wright's arrest has not yet been disclosed.
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