A 19-year-old man died over the weekend after falling into a meat grinder at a California food preparation plant.
The young person who was robbed, whose name has not been released by the Vernon Police Department, worked as a cleaner at Tina’s Burritos in the 2600 block of Vernon Avenue.
Officials said that the Los Angeles County Fire Department was called to help with what was called a “fatal industrial accident.” A man was found in the meat grinder, which was also known as a “industrial-grade kettle.”
The accident that killed the person happened around 9:30 p.m. and is being called a “industrial mishap” because the person was cleaning an industrial food processor when it suddenly turned on.
Other people in the workplace said they could hear him pleading for help and tried to stop the machine from running but failed. As soon as the police arrived at the workplace, the man had already died.
The company admitted the terrible event and said it was a “devastating loss.”
“We are very sorry to say that a sanitation worker passed away on Sunday night, July 13, 2025, while doing his job at our Vernon facility.” His job was to clean an empty kettle that was being cleaned and set up for production the next day, the company said in a statement. “Despite the immediate response of coworkers and emergency personnel, he tragically passed away at the scene.”
“Hearts are with his family, friends, and all who knew and worked with him,” the company said.
“Everyone at Tina’s is very sad about this loss.” It ended with, “We are fully cooperating with local authorities and Cal/OSHA in the ongoing investigation. Our focus remains on honoring his life, helping those who are grieving, and keeping the highest safety standards in our facility.”
The police are also looking into what happened, but they don’t think anyone did anything wrong.
There are also people from the California Occupational Safety and Health Administration helping with the probe.
The town of Vernon is in Los Angeles County, about five miles south of downtown Los Angeles.
