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Skateboarder Crushed to Death by Truck's Back Wheels, Officials Say

By Nicole Levy | January 12, 2016 5:45pm | Updated on January 13, 2016 7:41am
 A man riding a skateboard was crushed beneath the back wheels of a truck on Delancey Street Tuesday afternoon, according to witnesses.
A man riding a skateboard was crushed beneath the back wheels of a truck on Delancey Street Tuesday afternoon, according to witnesses.
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DNAinfo/Nicole Levy

LOWER EAST SIDE — A 32-year-old skateboarder died Tuesday after he held onto the side of a large truck driving down Delancey Street until he lost his balance and slipped beneath its rear tires, officials said.

The skateboarder, Richard Oates, was crushed by the westbound Mack truck near Norfolk Street at 1 p.m., NYPD officials said.

He appeared to be hitching a ride, said Ismael Espada, 50, a Durso Trucking employee who witnessed the incident near the intersection of Delancey and Norfolk streets.

The truck, which was carrying a shipping container, continued to drive without stopping, said John Froeber, 47, another Durso employee who had been directing foot and car traffic around a crane on Norfolk Street when the incident occurred.

"It appeared like the guy in the garbage truck didn't know he hit him," Froeber said.

Oates, of Greenpoint, was pronounced dead at Bellevue Hospital, police said.

"He was in bad shape," Froeber said.

A handful of bystanders stopped traffic and came to the man's aid, Espada said, including a woman who draped her jacket over him.