Overview
- The victim, 26-year-old Tyler Anthony Lynch, was found with severe head trauma and pronounced dead at the scene after an accident during a tree-trimming job on Thursday, Aug. 20.
- Authorities say 34-year-old Christopher Boone Crimmins told police he and Lynch were joking about the grapple’s shadow when he moved the truck-mounted hydraulic grapple without watching the worker and then closed it on Lynch’s head.
- The criminal complaint cites Crimmins’s statements, a witness who said the grapple hit or pinched Lynch’s head, and officers’ observation of blood on the grapple as key evidence supporting a second-degree manslaughter charge.
- Crimmins is in custody with bail set at $40,000 unconditional or $20,000 with conditions, faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted, and is due back in Dakota County court on Sept. 10.
- Federal safety officials from OSHA are reviewing the scene to determine whether training, supervision, equipment safeguards, or employer policies contributed to the death, a review that could lead to separate civil or administrative actions.