Man Killed In Industrial Laundry Accident: Niles Police

NILES, IL — The death of a man found trapped in an industrial laundry machine in Niles Tuesday night appears to have been an accident, according to police. Fire and police personnel were called around 10:41 p.m. to Ecodirect Laundry at 6977 N. Austin Ave. for a report that a man had gotten stuck in a conveyor belt used for wet laundry. They found a man stuck between a dryer and a conveyor in the main dryer area of the business, police said. Niles Fire Department paramedics were unable to find any signs of life.

Pascual Gonzalez-Hernandez, 42, of Chicago's Edgewater neighborhood, was pronounced dead shortly after 11 p.m., according to the Cook County medical examiner's office. An autopsy Wednesday found he died as a result of head injuries and ruled his death an accident.

In interviews with police, fellow employees reported they had not seen Gonzalez-Hernandez since about 9:30 p.m., according to Niles Police Cmdr. Robert Tornabene.

A review of surveillance video showed that Gonzalez-Hernandez was working along around 9:56 p.m. when he tried to remove a towel that was hanging from a dryer in front of the conveyor mechanism, Tornabene said.

The video shows the system move upward and then stop, at which point police believe Gonzalez-Hernandez was stuck in the conveyor system and the dryer.

Another employee realized the washer and dryer had stopped working about 30 minutes later and discovered Gonzalez-Hernandez's body after checking on the machines, police learned.

All evidence at the scene indicates the death was accidental, Tornabene said, pending toxicology results from the medical examiner's office. The office determined "crainiocerebral injuries" from an industrial accident was the cause and manner of Gonzalez-Hernandez's death.

Founded in 2002, Ecodirect is an industrial laundry company specializing in cleaning linens for local hotels.