Garbage hauler killed in runaway truck accident, say police

A garbage hauler was killed as he tried to stop his unoccupied runaway truck Friday morning in Roslyn Estates, Nassau police said.

Rudolph Skakel, 55, of Uniondale, stepped out of his Mack truck to retrieve garbage containers at 6:13 a.m., and the vehicle started rolling east down Northern Boulevard, police said.

Police said Skakel, who worked for Basin Haulage, ran after the truck and jumped onto a step on the passenger side. As he tried to gain control of the truck, it sideswiped a utility pole, killing him, police said.

Other details were not immediately available.

Officials at Basin Haulage, based in Maspeth, Queens, could not be reached Friday afternoon.