A tree service company employee is facing charges after allegedly trying to push a co-worker head-first into a wood chipper, police said.
In a scene reminiscent of the 1996 Coen brothers classic “Fargo,” Scott Edward Iverson, 26, of Stayton, Oregon, snuck up behind co-worker Austin Crawford as he was loading brush into a wood chipper, put him in a chokehold and tried to shove him into the machine as they worked last Wednesday in Keizer, outside of Salem, a witness told police.
Iverson then tried to push Crawford’s head toward the machine a second time as a struggle ensued, the Keizer Police Department said in a statement cited by The Oregonian.
Another employee intervened after seeing Iverson and Crawford struggling.
“The victim told investigators he feared for his life and thought he was going to die when the incident occurred,” police said.
Iverson then walked away from the scene after he was pulled off Crawford. He was later arrested at a restaurant in Stayton on Friday. He was taken into custody without incident on suspicion of attempted murder and assault, police said.
Iverson’s attempted murder charge was downgraded to first-degree attempted assault during his arraignment Monday, KPTV reports.
Crawford, meanwhile, recalled thinking how he “didn’t want to die” in such a gruesome way, adding that he had no idea what prompted the attack just three months after starting working alongside Iverson at R&R Tree Service in Salem.
“Prior to this we got along great,” he told KVAL. “You know, we laughed, we joked, we talked.”
Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call Kaizer Police Department Detective Ben Howden at (503) 390-3713.