Hempstead employee's arm caught in sand spreader

A Town of Hempstead employee, working alone overnight in a town lot in Wantagh, got his right arm stuck in a sand spreader early Monday and was trapped outside in the heart of the blizzard until finally being freed by Nassau County police Emergency Services Unit officers sometime after 4 a.m., police said.

Police said the 46-year-old man, whose identity was not released, was taken to Nassau University Medical Center in stable condition.

Police said he is not in danger of losing his arm, though they could not detail the extent of his injuries.

The incident happened at about 12:30 a.m., police said, at the town lot on Wantagh Avenue. The man was loading sand into a sand spreader when his arm became trapped in the equipment. The employee "was unable to contact police and remained trapped, exposed to the elements, until another truck returned to the yard," police said. That driver then called 911 -- at 4:01 a.m.

Responding officers were able to free the man. It was not immediately clear how the man's arm became trapped.