Michigan Woman Crushed To Death By Motorized Parking Lot Gate

A Michigan woman was crushed to death by a motorized parking gate at the tool and die shop where she worked in Commerce Township. The unidentified Bloomfield Township woman, 63, was killed after she activated the gate with her key, according to the Oakland County Sheriff’s Department.

The Michigan woman was found dead on Sunday afternoon. Law enforcement investigators think that she reached through the chain link fence gate in order to activate the motorized gate with her key, and then became trapped between an electrical box and the moving gate arm.

According to an autopsy report shared by the Detroit Free Press, the Bloomfield Township woman died of asphyxia by compression. Local authorities told the media that the motorized gate at the tool and die shop typically opens automatically when cars pull up, but for a reason currently unknown, the gate did not function properly, prompting the woman to use her key to move the arm.

When Oakland County deputies arrived at around 1:30 p.m., the Cadillac Escalade owned by the victim was parked at least partially beneath the seven-foot-high gate. The driver’s door was open and the engine was still running, WXYZ reports.

“She had reached through chain link fence gate using keys to activate the gate and had become trapped between the motorized gate and electrical box,” sheriff’s office officials noted in a statement released to the press on Monday.

The Commerce Township Fire Department had to dismantle a large portion of the motorized gate to remove the woman’s body. The woman was a part owner of the business, and investigators believe she became trapped sometime after she finished work on Saturday evening.

The Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration is also currently investigating the malfunction of the motorized gate and the woman’s death.

[Image via Shutterstock]