http://www.poconorecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130828/NEWS/308280321
By CAMILO H. SMITH
Pocono Record Writer
August 28, 2013
A Pittston man was pulled from his crushed utility truck Tuesday after being trapped for more than an hour after a 17-ton concrete slab overhang fell from a bank building in Stroud Township.
Edward Joseph Shucosky Jr. was pinned behind the dashboard of his white Ford utility truck in the drive-through lane of the Wayne Bank near Stroud Mall. Stroud Area Regional Police would not speculate on what caused the concrete slab to crash onto the vehicle, contorting it into a V-shape.
Several people working to free the driver speculated that the arm from the aerial platform lift attached to the back of his truck came in contact with a concrete overhang attached to the building.
Police said the outside face wall of concrete was approximately 48 feet long and 12 feet wide. It landed on the truck's front firewall separating the engine compartment from the interior front dash. It pinned his legs under the concrete and front part of the truck.
Police estimated the slab to weigh about 17 tons — approximately the weight of three elephants or an average loaded school bus.
"All I heard was the noise when it hit the wall," said witness Cardelia Gaither. "It started crashing down. I heard this crushing sound, and he started screaming."
Gaither, of Stroud Township, had been across the street with another woman when the incident occurred.
Gaither held the other woman's hand tightly as they waited for rescue workers to lift the concrete in the early part of the operation.
"You're doing great, Eddie! You're doing great!" the woman who did not want to give her name yelled to Shucosky.
A crowd from the mall parking lot gathered as rescue workers rushed to remove the concrete. The spectators, cellphones lifted high, were taking pictures and recording video.
Stroud Township firefighters placed calls to Schlier's Towing in Tannersville and Papillion and Moyer Construction Co. for large, heavy-duty wreckers and heavy-duty construction boom trucks to lift the concrete off the vehicle.
The concrete piece was removed within an hour of the initial 4:07 p.m. call for help. It took an additional 20 minutes to free Shucosky from the truck because of the damage caused by the concrete piece.
He was airlifted to the Lehigh Valley Hospital Trauma Unit with injuries not believed to be life threatening, police said.
Julia Deannuntis asked her two granddaughters repeatedly to turn around and not look at the man trapped inside. She had been traveling north on Route 611 when she saw a piece of wall that looked like it was resting on the ground.
She knew something was wrong.
"It's like something you would only see on TV," Deannuntis said. "I just said, 'God, please be with this man.'"
According to authorities, Shucosky may have been working on projects in the area, including an area in front of the mall.
Shucosky, listed in public records as 36 years old, is a contractor with the Kuharchik construction company in Exeter. A representative with the company said they were aware of the accident but wouldn't elaborate.
Jim Schlier of Schlier's Towing helped coordinate the removal of the concrete slab using several nylon straps and construction cranes.
Once the slab was lifted about 10 feet in the air, a tow truck gingerly pulled the wrecked vehicle backward, with Shucosky still inside.
Schlier described the caution required to remove the concrete.
"We lifted it straight up," he said. "But we were concerned that it would break in half."
Police said the slab was lifted off the vehicle around 4:53 p.m.
Police were expected to work through the night reconstructing the accident and didn't want to speculate on the cause.
"What the fire department did was a monumental task," said Cpl. Ken Nevil of SARP.
Shucosky's right leg was trapped between the pedal and the dashboard, Stroud Township Assistant Fire Chief Bill Unruh said.
Shucosky was pulled from the vehicle around 5:19 p.m. with the help of EMS and firefighters. He was conscious as onlookers gathered.
According to an employee, the bank was open at the time of the incident.
