Man dies after falling from office roof

Deepa Bharath

A 51-year-old Riverside County man died Monday afternoon after he

plunged 25 feet from the top of an office building he was re-roofing,

officials said.

Michael Lewis of Menifee was working on a building in the 700

block of West 16th Street at about 2 p.m. when he slipped and fell,

Costa Mesa Fire Capt. William Kershaw said.

When firefighters and paramedics arrived, Lewis was on the ground

in “full arrest,” he said.

Lewis was taken to Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian, where he

died from the injuries, Orange County coroner’s officials said. An

autopsy is scheduled for today.

Kershaw said someone was already doing CPR on the victim when

paramedics arrived.

A few people, who happened to be outside of the quiet Westside

office complex near the corner of Placentia Avenue and 16th Street,

rushed to the man’s help.

Bob Santoro saw the man fall “out of the corner of his eye.”

“I ran over and tried to help him,” he said.

Chris Parker, who makes auto parts for a business that builds hot

rods, was in the workshop right across from the building where the

victim was working. He heard Santoro’s calls for help and came

running.

Parker said a man who said he was the victim’s nephew was giving

him CPR.

“[Santoro] was on the phone with the paramedics getting

instructions on what to do,” he said.

Parker said when he went out he “expected to see someone with a

broken arm.”

“Instead, I saw this man lying on the ground with a lot of blood

coming from his head,” he said. “It seemed like he couldn’t breathe

because the blood was clogging up his mouth and nose.”

Parker said he checked for a pulse as soon as he got there.

“I got one in the beginning,” he said. “But I checked again later

and there was no pulse.”

Santoro said he was still shaken up an hour after the incident.

“I’ve seen this type of thing before,” he said. “But you never get

used to it.”

For Parker, it was a first.

“It’s a horrible thing to happen,” he said. “I feel very sorry for

the man’s family. It’s sad.”