OXNARD : Trash Compactor Injures Man’s Arm

A 34-year-old Oxnard man suffered a fractured arm after he was ensnared in a commercial trash compactor in Oxnard on Thursday, authorities said.

It took rescue workers 40 minutes to free Juan Soliz, who had reached into the compactor behind the Lucky supermarket at 920 North Ventura Road, apparently looking for food or boxes, Ventura County Fire Capt. Robert Bradley said.

A Lucky employee saw Soliz and another man walking behind the store, just before the employee turned on the machine, Lucky spokeswoman Judy Decker said.

Just after activating the machine, the Lucky employee heard one of the men yell “Stop,” in Spanish. But Soliz’s arm had already been caught, Decker said.

When firefighters arrived at the scene, minutes after the 9:31 a.m. call, Soliz was on his back in the machine, his arm gripped by the mechanism between his elbow and shoulder, Bradley said.

Soliz was given pain relievers intravenously while he was being disentangled, officials said. He was taken to the emergency room at St. John’s Regional Medical Center where he was treated and released, hospital and fire officials said.