Greenfield Boating Accident Killed 69-Year-Old Man: Police

GREENFIELD, WI — A 69-year-old man is dead after authorities say he became trapped under a boat that he and a friend were trying to move from a property in the 4600 block of S. 112th Street on July 6.

According to Greenfield police reports, officers were sent to the house just after 5:30 p.m. after a resident called 911.

Reports stated the 69-year-old man and a friend of his came to the property that day to help the 69-year-old man take the boat back to his house.

According to reports, as the 69-year-old man and his friend were preparing to hook up the boat trailer to a hitch on the back of a truck, the boat and trailer started to roll forward down an embankment.

Police reports stated the 69-year-old man couldn't get out of the way of the rolling trailer, and became trapped underneath.

Greenfield police said officers arrived within minutes of the incident and exerted all the energy they could to try to push the boat off the trapped man in order to save his life.

Within minutes, several other officers rushed to the scene to try to lift the boat off him. Officers tried speaking to the man, however he didn't respond, and the boat wouldn't budge.

According to police reports, the victim's friend said the victim's truck wouldn't shift into park, and that the trailer popped off the hitch as the truck and boat began to roll down the embankment.