Man killed by his vehicle falling on him

A 42-year-old Macomb Township man died late Thursday night or early Friday morning in an awful mishap: his vehicle crushed him while he was working on it.

Timothy Hamler was found dead pinned under his vehicle in his attached garage about 4:30 a.m. Friday by a neighbor who became suspicious when he saw Hamler’s garage door open and light on, Macomb County Sheriff Anthony Wickersham said. The neighbor had noticed Hamler working on the vehicle about 9 to 9:30 p.m. Thursday at the home on Brookside North Drive, near 21 Mile and Card roads, the sheriff said.

“Somehow the jack flipped and the car fell on him,” Wickersham said. “No foul play is suspected.”

Officers believe he may have been working on the alternator in the front area of the vehicle, he said.

No one else was home at the time as he has been living alone.

The incident shook up his estranged wife, Tammi Hamler, with whom he was going through an amicable divorce after a long marriage, said her attorney, Clinton Township-based Richard Marcil.

“She’s distraught and in shock, even though they’ve been apart for a while,” he said.

Hamler, who had two children, has worked at General Dynamics the past four years, according to a General Dynamics spokesperson.

Marcil said Hamler had served in the military and for a time lived with his wife in Kentucky and Virginia.

Following are safety tips for jack use, according to dummies.com:

• Use the jack only to get a vehicle off the ground, never to hold a vehicle in place.

• Use jack stands when you work underneath a vehicle.

• Never jack up a vehicle without blocking the wheels to keep it from rolling. Use bricks, wooden wedges, or metal wheel chocks to block the wheels at the end of the car that isn’t being raised.

• Always park a vehicle on level ground before you jack it up. If you get a flat tire on a hill and can’t coast to the bottom without killing the tire completely, park close to the curb, turn the wheels toward the curb, and block the downside wheels securely to prevent the car from rolling.

• Put the car in “park,” or in “first” for a manual transmission, and engage the parking brake before you jack up the vehicle.