St. Michael Business Employee Killed in St. Paul Demolition Incident

Written by Stefanie Briggs

Johnny Valek, 61, of Plymouth died early Tuesday morning while working at a demolition site for the former Gillette building in St. Paul, according to media reports.

Around 8 a.m. Sept. 10, heavy equipment operators were demolishing the building when a portion of the concrete structure supporting the building fell onto the cab of one of the backhoes involved in the demolition, reports KSTP. 

Valek was crushed when the large cement slab fell on him while he was operating the construction equipment.

Valek was working for Rachel Contracting of St. Michael, which was hired to demolish the old Diamond Products building to make room for the ballpark. The company has worked on other high profile demolition projects like Brookdale Mall.

The former Gillette building is being demolished to clear the site for the Lowertown Ballpark. The building is in the area of East Fifth Street and Broadway.

The job site was shut down while the St. Paul Fire Department's Tactical Rescue Team works to recover the victim's body. The body was identified by officials late Tuesday afternoon, reports Kare 11.

Emergency crews said it was too late to help when they arrived. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating the case, according to media reports.

You can read a statement from Valek's family here.