Woman Trying To Retrieve Dog Killed By Sanitation Truck

Pervaiz Shallwani stream.wsj.com A 58-year-old Chelsea woman trying to retrieve her escaped dog from under a sanitation truck was struck and killed by the vehicle on Wednesday, the New York Police Department said. Jackie Haeflinger, an events planner at New York University was walking her Boston terrier, Violet, along West 15th Street between Seventh and Eighth avenues around 10:15 a.m. when the dog got loose and ran under the truck, police said. Ms. Haelfinger was attempting to get her dog back when the truck began backing up, police said. A sanitation worker frantically signaled to the driver to stop before the woman was struck, police said. The woman was pronounced dead at the scene. Violet escaped unharmed and was in police care. A Department of Sanitation spokeswoman confirmed that one of its trucks was involved in an incident that killed a woman and that it is under investigation. Ms. Haelfinger was a half block from her home when she died. Neighbor Edward Sanders, 48, said he was walking home when he saw Ms. Haelfinger and Violet walking toward him on the south side of West 15th Street. Suddenly, he said, the dog got loose and scrambled under an idling sanitation truck. Ms. Haelfinger tried to retrieve the dog, slipped, and was crushed by the truck, he said. “It all happened so fast,” he said. to read more: stream.wsj.com