Lion Lineman Hit by Truck in Yard, Killed

Eric Andolsek, a lineman for the Detroit Lions, was killed Tuesday when a truck ran off the road and struck him as he worked in the front yard of his home in southern Louisiana, state police said.

Andolsek, 25, was pronounced dead at Thibodaux General Hospital, about 30 minutes after he arrived by ambulance.

The accident occurred at Andolsek’s home in rural Lafourche Parish, authorities said. Andolsek, 6 feet 2 and 286 pounds, was working with a weed cutter in his front yard when the truck ran off a straight stretch of Louisiana 1, struck him and continued 400 feet before stopping, said Sgt. Hamilton Mixon, a state police spokesman.

“The driver apparently fell asleep, but the accident is still under investigation,” Mixon said.

The driver of the truck, James E. Bennett, 34, of Baton Rouge, was charged with negligent homicide and failure to maintain control and was being held in the Lafourche Parish Jail. Andolsek was a three-year starter at Louisiana State before being selected in the fifth round of the 1988 NFL draft.