Minnesota man charged with fatal grapple ‘crushing’ of co-worker’s head

A Minnesota man is accused of crushing his co-worker’s head with a hydraulic grapple while they were trimming trees in Apple Valley, Minn., on Thursday.

Christopher Boone Crimmins, 34, of Brainerd, was charged with one count of second-degree manslaughter , Dakota County Attorney Kathy Keena announced.

According to the news release by Dakota County Attorney’s Office, on Aug. 20 at approximately 7 p.m. local time, Apple Valley police officers responded to a report of an incident involving a severely injured man and a truck with a hydraulic grapple.

When officers arrived at the scene, they found 26-year-old Tyler Anthony Lynch, of Royalton, “lying on the ground with a large amount of blood around his body and a significant injury to his head.”

Lynch was pronounced deceased at the scene, the Dakota County Attorney’s Office said.

“Crimmins told officers that he and the victim, who are both employed by a tree trimming service, had recently arrived at a job site. Crimmins was operating the grapple and Lynch was on the ground picking up branches,” the news release said.

“The two observed shadows of the grapple and the victim. Crimmins then maneuvered the grapple so that its shadow appeared to grab the shadow of Lynch. Crimmins was not monitoring the actual grapple or Lynch. He then opened and closed the grapple, crushing Lynch’s head.”

According to the criminal complaint , Crimmins told police officers that he was the only one on the crew with a commercial driver’s licence “so he drives and operates the boom.”

Crimmins said he was “unaware of any mechanical issues with the truck or the boom” at the time of the incident.

He told officers that he and the victim were “f—ing around” and “saw that the sunlight was casting shadows of both the grapple and of the victim on the street.”

“The Defendant maneuvered the grapple while looking at the shadows, to make it appear as though the shadow of the hydraulic grapple was grabbing the shadow of the Victim. In doing so, the Defendant was not looking at the Victim nor the grapple, and did not see that the grapple was moving towards the Victim’s head. He then closed the grapple and the Victim’s head was crushed,” according to the criminal complaint.

A witness also saw the incident take place and said that they saw the grapple come over towards Lynch and “either hit or pinch the Victim’s head.”

The witness said that the grapple caused “significant injury and trauma” to Lynch’s head.

“Officers observed blood on the grapple that was directly above the Victim,” the criminal complaint added.