Worker Refurbishing Home Falls To His Death

A 45-year-old worker refurbishing a home at 39th and Mercier streets fell to his death Wednesday when he slipped.

Police said the worker was on the third story, caulking and scraping to get the house ready for painting.

A co-worker told KMBC's Peggy Breit that the man was on a tall ladder and may have stepped on a window air-conditioner unit and slipped off.

"I was working on a room upstairs and I heard a thump and boom," neighbor Manuel Lopez said.

The man fell three stories and died after he was impaled on a fence below. His name has not been released.

Lopez said he didn't know what had happened until he heard his neighbor screaming. Lopez said he came running outside and saw the worker sprawled out beside the fence.

"She had some towels with her and she gave them to me and I tried putting compression on him," Lopez said.

Lopez said he continued first aid until medics arrived, but it was already too late.

The owner of the painting company had left the home to get the worker some new shoes -- he said he needed better traction for his work on the roof.

Police said they're not sure whether the worker stepped on the air conditioner or whether he was trying to hold onto it when the accident happened.

A co-worker said the man is from Washington and he has two teenage daughters in California.

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• painter
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