Jeep worker killed in workplace accident identified

Toledo police have identified the Jeep worker who was killed in a workplace accident Wednesday afternoon in the south plant of the Stellantis Jeep Toledo Assembly complex in North Toledo.

Around 1:30 p.m., Antonio Gaston, 53, of West Toledo was working on the Jeep Gladiator line, tightening undercarriage bolts, when he became caught under one of the vehicles moving down the assembly line and was killed, police said.

In a statement released Thursday morning, Stellantis officials said their “heartfelt condolences go out to the family, friends, and coworkers of the Toledo Assembly Complex employee who was involved in a fatal workplace accident yesterday.”

The company is working with local and state authorities to investigate the cause of this accident, and counseling services will be available for Toledo Assembly employees, according to Stellantis spokesman Ann Marie Fortunate.

Investigators from the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration were on scene at the plant Wednesday, according to OSHA spokesman Scott Allen. He indicated the investigation may take up to six months as investigators will be “conducting interviews with potential witnesses and with the employer, to determine if all OSHA standards and regulations were being followed.”

This is the first fatal workplace accident at the complex at 4400 Chrysler Dr. since 2007, when Michael Tiller, 50, of Lambertville, died following a fall.

According to OSHA records, Mr. Tiller’s body was found by an employee around 6:30 a.m. on Feb. 12, 2007. He had been working in the battery charging area of the assembly plant’s body shop when he fell, breaking his neck. Mr. Tiller’s body was found on the rollers of a large battery washing machine. There were no witnesses to the accident.

Aside from a spate of workplace injuries between January, 2019, and February, 2020, the 3.64-million-square-foot complex has been relatively injury-free, according to records obtained from OSHA.

Between Jan. 21, 2019, and Feb. 27, 2020, four employees were hurt at the plant. One worker suffered a broken arm on Jan. 21, 2019, when he was struck by a lathe’s rotating shaft. On Nov. 19, 2019, an employee working inside the engine compartment of a vehicle on the assembly line broke her back as she attempted to step out of the vehicle and tumbled six feet into a servicing pit.

On Jan. 15, 2020, a worker on a dock reached down to pick up his phone and was struck by a truck that was backing into the dock. He suffered broken ribs and a lacerated kidney. The most recent previous accident was Feb. 27, 2020, when an employee amputated a portion of his finger when he pinched it between a wrench handle and the bottom of a vehicle he was working on the assembly line.

A union steward at the Jeep plant launched a GoFundMe page to raise money for Mr. Gaston's widow and four children, “to help alleviate some of the burdens that will fall upon his loved ones.”

“The memories we all have of ‘Tone’ are brightened by his permanent smile and joyous nature,” the listing reads. “Although money won’t bring him back, the support we show will forever impact his families lives forever.”

By late Thursday morning, more than 160 people had donated $7,315.

To donate, visit: gofund.me/46825de3 .