Man almost killed when his rubbish truck hideaway starts to compact him

A shoplifting suspect is in hospital in a critical condition after he was crushed while hiding in a rubbish truck. James Brienzo fled from police after he was spotted leaving a Walmart store in Alliance, Ohio, through a fire exit with a trolley full of goods. The 37-year-old hid in a rubbish bin outside the shop, and waited for officers to leave the area.

But workers arrived to pick up the store's rubbish and the bin was emptied into a truck. Brienzo was crushed several times, as the lorry's metal jaws compacted the rubbish. He eventually managed to pull out a mobile phone from his pocket and call a friend. His pal phoned police, who used GPS (Global Positioning System) to track the truck.

The rubbish, which mainly consisted of cardboard boxes, had been crushed so much that police could not free him from the vehicle. The lorry was taken back to the depot, and Brienzo fell out of the truck head-first with the rubbish. "He was in a lot of pain," said a police spokesman at the scene.

"He had been compacted several times. He was just begging us to empty the truck." The spokesman said Brienzo suffered serious injuries and is being treated in the Metro Health Medical Centre in Cleveland. The suspect is expected to be charged with shoplifting after he recovers.