A 46-year-old man who was collecting garbage has died after being struck by an SUV Tuesday afternoon on Greenbank Road between Prince of Wales Drive and Barnsdale Road in south Ottawa.
Friends say Rocco D'Angelo died at the Civic Campus of the Ottawa hospital just before 10 p.m. Tuesday night.
D'Angelo had been working for contractor The Labour Group for about 4 years., The company was contracted to pick up residential garbage for the City of Ottawa.
“We have a garbage truck heading north on Greenbank Road and one of the workers from the rear of the truck was struck by a vehicle heading southbound,” said Ottawa Police Insp. Murray Knowles.
Police said the female driver of the SUV was not injured.
His employer and long-time friend Nick Caravatta describes the man as a “good employee, very reliable, very hard working. We as a company our taking this to heart, very hard.”
It is unclear whether he was crossing the street at the time of the incident. The company’s policy states workers should only pick up garbage on one side of the street at a time, even on quieter rural roads.
Police are investigating. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Collision Investigation Section at 613-236-1222 ext 2481.
With a report from CTV Ottawa’s John Hua
