MISSION VIEJO : Man Is Killed in Bulldozer Accident

A 42-year-old man was killed Friday when he tied to remove a blade from a bulldozer and the blade slipped and crushed him, authorities said.

Coleman Ray Felihkatubbe of Palmdale was crushed to death about 9:30 a.m. at Alicia Parkway and Olympiad Road as he was removing the blade of a Caterpillar B10 bulldozer, said Sheriff’s Lt. Harold Schaffroth. The Caterpillar B10 bulldozer has the biggest tractor made, he said.

The accident is the second fatal industrial accident this week in Orange County and the fourth since April.

Felihkatubbe had been trying to get the bulldozer ready to be moved to another working site, Schaffroth said.

“He was under the blade, loosening the bolts and called to another worker to raise the blade,” Schaffroth said. As it was raised, the blade slipped and crushed Felihkatubbe’s chest, he said.

Wednesday night, Douglas A. Ruff, 20, of Norco was crushed to death when he slipped down a chute into a rock crusher at a Gypsum Canyon mining plant in Anaheim.

Last month, Antonio Ramirez Diaz, 42, of Pacoima was working on a road extension in the hills in Mission Viejo when a drainage ditch caved in, trapping him beneath a 10-foot mound of dirt, killing him.

In April, Jimmy Castillo, 27, of Orange was killed at a construction site in San Juan Capistrano when a large chunk of earth fell on him, crushing him against a backhoe.

At each of these accidents, the victim died at the scene.