Bowling Alley Owner Killed in Freak Work Accident

Florence, Colorado's police chief describes the local bowling alley as "almost like a barbershop"—a place outside of which owner Ector Rodriguez was widely known for sitting on a bench and chatting with locals who passed by. The community is now mourning the 65-year-old, who lost his life in a freak accident Sunday. Rodriguez went to unstick a pin machine at his Fremont Lanes, and FOX 21 reports that when he didn't return for some time, an employee went to the back and found him "trapped inside that machine," per Police Chief Michael DeLaurentis.

The machine moves up and down, DeLaurentis explains to KKTV, and "somehow he got stuck between the returning of the pins. At this time we don’t know if it malfunctioned or if he was just in the wrong place when it came back up and trapped him in that machine." He was pronounced dead at the scene. (More freak accident stories.)