Construction Worker Hospitalized After Leg Catches in Paving Equipment

A construction worker on a Massachusetts Avenue paving project in Toms River was hospitalized early Tuesday morning after his leg became caught in a piece of equipment. 

Police responded to the scene at 12:20 a.m., where Earle employee Ben Lugo, 27, of Toms River had his foot trapped under an asphalt hopper, said Chief of Police Michael Mastronardy.

“Mr. Lugos’s fellow workers were able to free him after about ten minutes by using a torch and pry bar, cutting the metal that was trapping him,” the chief said in an email.

Jerry Bove, 22, of Brick was the one to cut through metal, freeing Lugo. He told police the victim was attempting to clean some asphalt from the machine when his feet became caught under a belt and metal, Mastronardy said.

Lugo was transported by MONOC ambulance to the Joseph A. Citta Elementary school where a helicopter transported him to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune with leg and foot injuries, Mastronardy said.

Lugo’s current condition was not immediately available.