Minnesota man charged in death of co-worker crushed by hydraulic grapple in prank gone wrong

A Minnesota man is accused of crushing his co-worker’s head with a hydraulic grapple while the pair were “f------ around” during a tree-trimming job, killing the 26-year-old. Christopher Boone Crimmins, 34, is charged with second-degree manslaughter after allegedly operating a truck-mounted hydraulic grapple that closed on his co-worker’s head. According to a criminal complaint filed Friday in Dakota County, Crimmins told police that he and Tyler Anthony Lynch, 26, were working together in Apple Valley on Thursday afternoon when the two started “f------ around.” The men noticed the grapple’s shadow and Lynch’s shadow on the ground, and Crimmins allegedly began moving to grapple to make it look like it was grabbing Lynch. Crimmins was watching the shadows rather than Lynch himself, the complaint said, and didn’t realize the grapple was closing in on Lynch’s actual head until it crushed it. Bail was set at $40,000 unconditional, or $20,000 with conditions, the Dakota County Attorney’s Office said Friday.

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