In a tragic incident at a New Jersey cemetery, a landscaper met a horrifying fate when he was drawn into a woodchipper known as the “Intimidator.” This catastrophic accident, which led to the man’s death, has prompted his family to file a lawsuit, citing malfunction and safety concerns with the equipment.

The family of Eonias Mateo-Perez, who was only 22 at the time, is taking legal action against Bandit Industries, a Michigan-based company responsible for manufacturing the woodchipper. The lawsuit, lodged in the Hunterdon County superior court, accuses the “Intimidator” chipper of being defective. According to the complaint, the machine “lacked adequate warnings, missed essential safety features, contained unsafe design elements, and failed to shut off properly,” thereby not preventing the tragic accident. The full legal details can be found in their filed complaint.

At the time of the accident, Mateo-Perez was employed by William LaRue Services and was working at Saint Magdalen Cemetery in Flemington. His task involved feeding trees into the woodchipper. The complaint alleges that the woodchipper malfunctioned without his knowledge, operating improperly and lacking the necessary safety mechanisms, which resulted in him being pulled into the machine at a high speed.

The woodchipper in question, the “Intimidator 19XPC,” is described on Bandit Industries’ website as having their “most powerful feed system available on a hand-fed chipper.” This description, however, starkly contrasts with the family’s claims of a lack of safety features that could have prevented this tragedy.

The “Intimidator 19XPC,” as Bandit Industries calls it, features Bandit’s “most powerful feed system available on a hand-fed chipper,” according to the company’s website.

“The Slide Box Feed System” that the machine comes with features a “massive” 25-inch-wide by 15-¾-inch-diameter “top feed wheel” powered by a chain drive system, and a 25 inch wide by 10 5/8 inch wide “bottom feed wheel roller,” the website says, “generating an astonishing 10,824 pounds of pulling power.”

According to Bandit, “This means larger material is pulled in easier, reducing the time and labor costs for trimming while increasing production.”

Mateo-Perez’s estate claims the allegedly defective “chipper” and Bandit itself violated the New Jersey Product Liability Act, which allows any claim or action to be brought by a claimant for harm caused by a product, irrespective of the theory underlying the claim.

“Parents, Lucindo Mateo Hernandez and Adelia Perez Lopez … have sustained pecuniary injuries … including, but not limited to, the value of his companionship and the loss of his prospective services in the future together with any hospital, medical and funeral expenses incurred,” the family’s complaint alleges.