Wire caught on vehicle pulls worker into road, severs his leg at the knee

Police say a worker who was installing electrical cables Tuesday in St. Paul lost part of his leg after a wire got snagged on a vehicle and wrapped around him.

According to the St. Paul Police Department, a crew was installing cable near Rice Street and Geranium Avenue. A length of wire was lying across the road at the work site, and vehicles were allowed to drive over it.

Just before noon, the cable “somehow became caught” on a vehicle passing southbound on Rice Street, and the loose wire ensnared a worker standing on the roadside as it stretched out, police said.

As the vehicle pulled the cable, it dragged the worker into the street, slamming him into a pickup truck that was passing by. Police say the tension of the wire caused his leg to be severed near his knee.

Medics with the St. Paul Fire Department took the victim to Regions Hospital. He is expected to survive.

Police say no one else was hurt in the accident and that the drivers of all of the vehicles involved are cooperating with the investigation.