Man Buried In Box Rescued

Officers responded to a unique call Thursday night in Crosby from a man who said he was trapped in a trench in box at a construction site.

The emergency call was received around11:09 p.m. but the man was unsure of his location. Law enforcement pinged the cellphone to try to determine where he was. It helped narrow down the area but didn’t precisely pinpoint where the man was trapped. Officers then searched the area and heard 21- year- old Joseph Erickson, in a construction site in a residential neighborhood.

According to Crosby police. Erickson fell 15 feet into a construction trench where green grass comes to an abrupt and steep end on Cross Avenue.

Below is a deep and dark trench cut into the sandy soil. And that’s where Erickson fell into an excavation site late Thursday night, sparking calls for firefighters and police officers and for a high-angle rescue.

Erickson cut his chin in the fall. His legs were stuck under the metal trench box as dirt and the rain-saturated embankment started to collapse around him. From police reports, Erickson was buried up to his armpits in the loose dirt.

Alcohol does appear to be a factor and part of the embankment probably was giving way in response to the activity of the rescue operation given all the recent rains.