Pa. Man Found Pinned by Van During Thunderstorms

July 17--Two state troopers searching rural Rockland Township for a missing 80-year-old man found him early Monday, lying in a church parking lot, his arm pinned under a wheel of his minivan.

The man, whose name troopers withheld, had been trapped about five hours, enduring soaking thunderstorms, before Troopers Kevin Masinick and Anthony Garipoli of the Reading station found him about 3 a.m. in the lot of Hope Community Church on Lobachsville Road.

The man, who was conscious, was freed with the help of Lyons Fire Company and Topton Ambulance personnel. He was taken to Lehigh Valley Hospital near Allentown. Information on his medical condition could not be obtained.

Troopers provided this account:

The man had dinner Sunday with his son and daughter-in-law and their children at their Rockland home. He left about 9:45 p.m. and his daughter-in-law asked him to call when he got home.

When he didn't call, the family became concerned.

About 12:30 a.m., the daughter-in-law called 9-1-1.

Masinick and Garipoli responded shortly before 1 a.m., taking the route the man would have traveled.

While going past the church, about two miles from his son and daughter-in-law's home, Garipoli spotted vehicle lights in the rear of the lot.

The van they found matched the description given by the family. The man's left arm was pinned beneath a front tire.

Masinick, a former emergency medical technician, decided it would be unsafe to try to move the van before an ambulance crew arrived.

The victim told the troopers he had pulled into the church lot, but tripped while getting out of the van. With the gear apparently not in park, the van rolled backward and knocked him down.

The man yelled for help but no one passed by.

Contact Steven Henshaw: 610-371-5028 or shenshaw@readingeagle.com.