UA employee injured by backhoe

FAYETTEVILLE — A University of Arkansas at Fayetteville employee was injured after a backhoe accident, officials said Tuesday.

The back tire of a backhoe rolled over a man's legs around 12:45 p.m. Tuesday near Agri Park at the dead end of Leverett Avenue, said Dale Riggins, Fire Department administrative assistant and retired captain.

The Fire Department did not release the man’s name or age. University police would not release the man's name Tuesday.

The 59-year-old man was pinned against a fence, said Capt. Gary Crain, university police spokesman.

Riggins said Tuesday the man possibly had a broken leg and was taken to Washington Regional Medical Center. The man did not have life-threatening injuries, he said.

Firefighters worked to get the man out from under the backhoe’s tire, Riggins said. The accident was minor and involved an employee who was trying to mend a fence but ended up pinned by his backhoe to the fence, said Steve Voorhies, a university spokesman.

Officials had specific address for where the accident happened, Riggins said. The area where the accident occurred is on Arkansas Agricultural Research & Extension Center property, just north of where Leverett Avenue ends, Crain said.

It also is near part of the Razorback Regional Greenway.

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