Man seriously hurt Saturday when hydraulic claw grabbed pickup cab at Topeka salvage yard

A man suffered serious injuries Saturday when a grappling hook grabbed the cab of the pickup truck he was in at a salvage yard in northeast Topeka, authorities said. Shawnee County sheriff’s Cpl. Steve Evans said Robert Lawrenz was hurt in the accident at Bailey’s Recycling Center, 4120 N.E. Seward Ave., where he is employed. Crews were called just after 9 a.m. to Bailey’s on a report that a 36-year-old man had been injured. Evans said Lawrenz was in the cab of a pickup truck when a large piece of heavy machinery reached down, grabbed the cab of the truck and started to grasp it using a grappling hook, which is a hydraulically powered claw with two or more opposing levers that pinch materials, usually to lift or drag them. Evans said the pickup was being lifted off the ground and about to be crushed when, luckily, other workers realized someone was inside and notified the equipment operator, who immediately let go of the truck.