MASON CITY – A Mason City man’s death has been ruled an accident, after he was found unresponsive and laying in a street.
On August 11, 2016, officers and fire medics responded to the 1600 block of South Carolina on a report of a man down. Dennis Marvin Mertz, age 65 of Mason City, was found in the street, unresponsive. Mertz was pronounced dead after arriving at the hospital.
The investigation into the death revealed that Mertz was believed to be on a ladder attempting to free a tree branch due to a recent thunderstorm. He fell from the ladder into the street and into the path of a tractor-trailer that was traveling northbound on South Carolina Avenue. The driver of the tractor-trailer, Kevin L. Casad, age 54 of Kincaid, Illinois, reported that he saw Mertz fall from the ladder and into the street and that he stopped to help the victim and also called 911.
It is believed that the back tires of Casad’s trailer drove over Mertz as he lay in the street. There is no indication that any criminal or traffic laws were violated and no charges were filed.
Mertz’s manner of death has been ruled accidental and the cause of death was blunt force injuries.
