Investigation Continues Into Death At Home Depot

DANBURY — Danbury police are investigating the death of a Sandy Hook man who was killed after a bundle of timbers fell on him at the Home Depot building supplies store on Federal Road about 6 pm Sunday, July 9.

Danbury police said that Jeffrey Thomas Mead, 41, of Far View Drive, Sandy Hook, died in the accident.

Jeffrey Mead and his twin brother, Dennis Mead, also of Sandy Hook, were pinned beneath a bundle of 3-inch by 5-inch landscaping timbers that had fallen down onto the two at the store. Police estimated that the bundle weighed approximately 2,000 pounds.

Both brothers were removed from the fallen timbers and transported to Danbury Hospital, police said.

Jeffrey Mead was later pronounced dead at the hospital emergency room from injuries he sustained in the accident, police said. An autopsy performed at the chief state medical examiner’s office in Farmington indicated the accidental death was caused by multiple blunt trauma injuries, a medical examiner’s spokeswoman said Wednesday.

Dennis Mead was treated for injuries and later released from the hospital, police said. Danbury police are conducting an investigation into Jeffrey Mead’s death.

Gene Autore, the manager of the Home Depot store at 114 Federal Road, said Tuesday that no one apparently witnessed the accident in which Jeffrey Mead died and Dennis Mead was injured, leaving the circumstances of the incident unclear. Home Depot is investigating the accident, he said.

Mr Autore said that no store employees or store equipment were involved in the incident.

The store manager said he expects the US Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) to investigate the incident.

Mr Autore said that a whole bundle of about 70 timbers fell onto the two men. The store has a very strict safety policy, he said, adding that many Home Depot safety personnel are involved in investigating the accident.

Jeffrey Mead was born in Norwalk on September 6, 1958. He grew up in Ridgefield and previously had lived in Norwalk for 10 years before making Sandy Hook his home for the past 11/2  years. He was employed at the Peoples Bank of Newtown.

The death of Jeffrey Mead, who was a familiar fixture at the Peoples’ drive-up window, hit coworkers hard this week. In a statement released Wednesday afternoon, the Newtown branch of Peoples Bank remembered Jeffrey Mead as a valued coworker.

“He was a wonderful man, and he will be deeply missed,” the statement said.