Lawn mower accident claims life in Louisville
From Staff Reports
An 81-year-old Louisville man was killed in freak lawn mower accident early Friday afternoon.
Robert Lewis Hale, Wayne Rankin Road, Louisville, was pronounced dead at the scene, according to a release from Blount County Sheriff’s Office public information officer Marian O’Briant.
The man was on a zero turn radius mower negotating across a small wooden bridge over a little stream that was 2 to 3 feet deep when the mower fell off the bridge.
It landed on top of Hale, trapping him in the water.
A neighbor found him at least an hour after the mower was heard running.
Police were notified of the accident at 2:30 p.m.
Another neighbor said the man had been cleaning up the property about two months with plans to sell it. He said Hale had safely crossed the bridge a 1,000 times in the past.
Blount County Sheriff’s Department, Blount County Fire Department and Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency all responded to the scene.
