‘Intimidator’ woodchipper death sparks lawsuit after Flemington horror

🔺 NJ worker killed in horrific accident at cemetery sparks lawsuit against manufacturer
🔺 Attorney sues Bandit Industries, claiming the chipper lacked safety features
🔺 The 22-year-old victim is survived by his parents

FLEMINGTON — An attorney in charge of the estate of a 22-year-old man who was brutally killed in a woodchipper mishap has sued the company that makes the machinery.

On July 10, 2024, Flemington police were called to the Saint Magdalen Cemetery on Thatchers Hill Road around 6:20 p.m.

Eonias “Leo” Mateo-Perez, of Flemington, was found dead, gruesomely hurt by a hand-fed woodchipper.

Mateo-Perez worked for William LaRue Services of Flemington, which has no prior history with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, a spokeswoman said.

Read More: Man found dead in NJ cemetery near wood chipper machine

⚖️ NJ attorney files wrongful death lawsuit over fatal woodchipper accident

On Oct. 21, attorney Robert Borteck filed a product liability lawsuit on behalf of Mateo-Perez’s surviving family, against the Michigan-based company Bandit, as Lawandcrime.com first reported.  

It seeks unspecified damages, “together with interest, attorneys’ fees and such further relief as the Court deems equitable and just.”

Bandit sells eight models of hand-fed woodchippers named “Intimidator,” including the 19XPC, which is described as having “over 10,000 pounds of pulling power.”

Mateo-Perez was working with a 19XPC chipper at the time of his death.

After the tragedy last year, Wright & Ford Family Funeral Home and Cremation Services in Flemington oversaw the victim’s remains being sent to Guatemala for burial.

According to the lawsuit filed by Borteck, the machinery lacked adequate warnings and safety features, and was designed in such a way that the “woodchipper did not properly shut off, and did not prevent a user being drawn into the machine."

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