Minn. Man Dies After Flagpole Accident
A 63-year-old man died Wednesday after a heavy metal ball fell from the top of a flagpole and struck him on the head.He was Eugene White of Oak Grove. He and his wife are co-owners of Flag Source, an Anoka company that installs and repairs flagpoles.
“It shouldn’t have fallen off, and of all the areas to hit, it shouldn’t have hit him,” said Joan White, the victim’s wife.
Authorities said White was working under the pole when the ball fell Wednesday afternoon. The flagpole, outside Perkins restaurant on University and Snelling Avenues, is about 70 feet high. The ball on top weighs more than 10 pounds and is bigger than a bowling ball.
“This is about as bizarre an incident as I can remember,” said St. Paul police spokesman Tom Walsh.
It wasn’t immediately clear whether White was wearing a hard hat. He died at Regions Hospital a few hours after the incident.
James Honerman, a spokesman for Minnesota OSHA, said Wednesday afternoon that his agency is investigating.