O.C. man crushed to death while changing brake pads on his minivan

A 55-year-old Stanton man was crushed to death while changing the brake pads on his minivan, a fire official said Thursday evening.

The victim had used jacks to raise the vehicle, but one of them failed as he was underneath the van in an alley behind his home in the 10600 block of Gilbert Street, according to the Orange County Fire Authority.

“The car landed right on top of him,” Capt. Steve Concialdi said.

Several bystanders witnessed the incident and tried to lift the minivan.

“But the car was too heavy,” Concialdi told The Times.

He said rescuers from the fire authority and the Anaheim Fire Department responded, and used air bags and wood cribbing to lift the vehicle, but they could not raise it high enough to pull out the victim.

An urban-search-and-rescue team was called and members used specialized hydraulic lifting tools to raise the vehicle and allow rescuers to get to the victim. He was already dead, Concialdi said.

The man’s name was not released.

Concialdi said that anyone using jacks to lift a car should also rely on wood blocks or cribbing as a safety precaution.

“Then you’re not crushed,” he said.

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