Highway Mishap Claims Life Of Sanit Worker

By REUVEN BLAU

Sanitation Worker Michael A. Occhino died Aug. 28 after his truck overturned and crashed into a guardrail on the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway as he was returning to his Brooklyn garage at the end of his tour.

MICHAEL A. OCCHINO

Mr. Occhino, 25, joined the department in May 2004. City investigators are examining the cause of the fatal 4 a.m. accident, which occurred on a rain-soaked highway.

"It's been a bad two days for the city," said Harry Nespoli, the president of the Uniformed Sanitationmen's Association, noting the deaths of two firemen from a blaze the day before. "Our hearts go out to their friends and families."

Mr. Occhino was returning from a Brooklyn transfer station dump site when the crash happened. He worked in the Brooklyn South 11 garage, which covers the Bensonhurst area. He is survived by his brother and two parents.

Mr. Nespoli pointed out that Mr. Occhino's death marks the sixth fatality of a Sanitation Worker on the job in less than three years. Four of those workers died in accidents involving trucks and two had heart attacks while working.