Florida landfill worker crushed to death after colleague in bulldozer accidentally runs over port-a-potty

Aaron Henderson’s manner of death has been ruled as accidental, officials say

Aaron Henderson was crushed to death while inside a port-a-potty in Polk County, Florida, on 4 March 2022 (Henderson family via Fox 13)

A father-of-three in Florida was crushed to death after a bulldozer accidentally ran over a portable toilet he was using, authorities said.

Aaron Henderson, 40, who worked at Polk County North Central landfill, was using a port-a-potty at the site on Friday when the bulldozer ran over him.

Henderson was crushed under the bulldozer, workers told first responders. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Authorities at the Polk County Sheriff’s Office and Polk County Fire Rescue were informed of an accident at the landfill after 5 in the evening.

Calling it a “tragic, industrial accident”, the sheriff’s office said that the landfill worker’s manner of death has been officially ruled as accidental.

But now Henderson’s family are looking for a more comprehensive explanation of what happened.

“At the end of the day, we don’t know what happened, but we just want to know the truth,” said his older brother Lenard Henderson told Fox 13. “So we hope they do a thorough investigation, you know what I’m saying? All we want is the truth.”

The brother described Henderson as a family men who lit up any room with his smile and laugh after a rocky upbringing.

“He came up in the streets a little bit and he was tired of living like that,” he said. “He wanted to have a responsible and be a responsible person.”

“He had a good life here with me, [his son] Adrian, and my other brother. But he’s in a better place now.”

Henderson was working for CertiTemp, a company in contract with Polk County, at the time of his death.

Henderson’s colleague was storing the bulldozer away for the day when he took the powerful machine up an embankment. The front blade remained “elevated three-four feet off the ground”, hindering his view when he was driving the machine up the slope, according to investigators.

After the driver negotiated up the embankment towards the staging area and reached levelled ground, he began to turn his bulldozer around. He then heard a loud crumble and realised that he had crushed a port-a-potty, officials said.

He jumped out of the bulldozer to see if anyone was inside the portable washroom and found Henderson unresponsive.

Polk County Board of County Commissioners chair Martha Santiago said: “Our board asks that you keep the family and friends of the deceased in your thoughts and prayers.”