The incident happened in Apple Valley on Thursday when Christopher Boone Crimmins, 34, was operating machinery on the back of a truck while his coworker, Tyler Anthony Lynch, 26, was on the ground cleaning up branches, according to a criminal complaint filed by Dakota County.<\/p>\n
Responding to reports of an incident, police discovered Lynch lying on the ground with “a significant amount of blood around him and significant trauma to his head,” the complaint said.<\/p>\n
Lynch was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the county.<\/p>\n
WORKERS WARNED OHIO TRENCH WAS TOO DEEP BUT WERE TOLD TO ENTER MINUTES BEFORE FATAL CAVE-IN: REPORT<\/a><\/p>\n Christopher Crimmins has been accused of recklessly operating a boom when he allegedly killed his coworker. (Dakota County Jail\u00a0)<\/p>\n Authorities said<\/a> Crimmins was operating a boom, a movable mechanical arm attached to a truck, when he and Lynch began messing around with their shadows.<\/p>\n “He and the Victim were \u2018f\u2014ing around\u2019 and saw that the sunlight was casting shadows of both the grapple and of the Victim on the street,” the criminal complaint said.<\/p>\n While looking at the shadows, Crimmins allegedly maneuvered the grapple so that its shadow appeared to grab Lynch\u2019s shadow.<\/p>\n However, he did not realize that the grapple itself was moving toward Lynch\u2019s head.<\/p>\n TWO WORKERS KILLED, SEVERAL INJURED AFTER EXPLOSIONS TEAR THROUGH OHIO RECYCLING FACILITY<\/a><\/p>\n An employee operates a grapple to remove a tree from a residential property. A Minnesota tree-trimming worker was charged with second-degree manslaughter after allegedly crushing a coworker\u2019s head with a hydraulic grapple while the two were horsing around with their shadows on the job. (Robert Nickelsberg\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n “Crimmins was not monitoring the actual grapple or Lynch. He then opened and closed the grapple, crushing Lynch\u2019s head,” the Dakota County Attorney’s Office said.<\/p>\n A witness also saw the incident unfold and said the grapple appeared to “hit or pinch” Lynch\u2019s head as it approached him.<\/p>\n WORKERS KILLED AND MANY TREATED AFTER REFINERY CHEMICAL RELEASE AS INVESTIGATORS PROBE CAUSE<\/a><\/p>\n Officers observed blood on the grapple, which was directly above Lynch, according to the complaint.<\/p>\n Authorities alleged Crimmins was responsible for the incident through negligence, saying he created an “unreasonable risk” and “consciously takes chances of causing death or great bodily harm to another.”<\/p>\n A hydraulic grapple grips a large tree branch during a tree-trimming job. (Matthias Rietschel\/picture alliance via Getty Images)<\/p>\n Crimmins has been charged with one felony count of second-degree manslaughter<\/a>. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine.<\/p>\n![\"Christopher](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/christopher-boone-crimmins.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"hydraulic](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/grapple-machinery.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"hydraulic](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/boom-tree-trimming.jpg\")
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