Updated Story:

As the investigation into Hakes' death continues, his family struggles to deal with the horrible news.
The family says they were absolutely shocked, and his parents say they can't believe their hardworking son died on a job site.

"There ain't a thing I can't look at on this farm and not think of him, because he was always here,” says Eugene Hakes, Sr.

He says he knew his son, Eugene, Jr., or "EJ" as he was called, would always work with his hands. He just never expected his work to be fatal.

"I figured yes, he'd get hurt, but not dead, no,” says Hakes.

The 33-year-old was last home on Easter, his mother Clarice says he was glad to be back to work with A-1 excavating after being unemployed over the winter.

However, he mentioned something that now seems like foreshadowing.

"He says he got a nice retirement fund, and I said, well that's good. And he says the problem is most people don't live to collect it, and he just told me that Sunday, and now this happened. I just don't believe it,” says Clarice Hakes.

Today the Occupational Health and Safety Administration continues to investigate the site.

Two months ago, A-1 was fined nearly 700 thousand dollars by OSHA for 11 workplace violations. The company has appealed the fine.

On the phone today A-1's president says his company has a clean record.

“It’s a tragic deal,” says Todd Pecha of A-1 Excavating.

Meanwhile, the family is left with its hardest job yet—coping with the loss of their son.

"Even when the work got tough we gotta keep going, dad. We'll get it. He was great. And with this loss, it's going to take awhile,” says Hakes.

Eugene Hakes, Jr. leaves behind a daughter and two sons, as well as countless other family members and friends. They say he'll be remembered as a light-hearted man who loved the outdoors. His father says he’s not only lost a son, he’s also lost his best buddy.

Original Story:

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) says a worker was killed yesterday at a construction site.

An Eau Claire-based OSHA spokesperson says the man was working in a trench when he was injured and later died. New Richmond Police Chief Mark Samelstad says 33-year-old Eugene Hakes, Jr., of Cadott was working for A-1 Excavating on a job site Tuesday morning.

Samelstad says Hakes was cutting a water pipe around 8:30 a.m. when the saw kicked back somehow and cut his throat. Terry Pecha, the president of A-1 Excavating which is based in Bloomer, says nobody else on the job site witnessed the accident. Pecha says Hakes was helping the company build a new water pump station for the City of New Richmond on North Second Street.

Pecha says Hakes, who worked for A-1 for at least 5 years, was using a large, gasoline-powered cut-saw to saw through a water main.

"No one knows what exactly took place because no one saw it happen," Pecha says.

Pecha says Hakes had done that many times before without any problems. After the accident, Hakes’ coworkers saw him holding his throat and tried to help him and called 911.

Hakes was taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead. Pecha says this is the first fatal accident in company history. Pecha also says the project has been idled, but will resume either today (Wednesday) or Thursday because the water main is closed and several homes and a business don’t have water.

Police Chief Mark Samelstad says the department is handling it as an accident at this point. OSHA says it has 2 investigators at the scene and is flying in a specialized civil engineer from Chicago to help with this case.

Two months ago, OSHA fined A-1 nearly $700,000 for 11 workplace violations involving trenching operations. A-1 has challenged that fine. The OSHA spokesperson would not comment if there were any violations at this job site, but if there are any new citations, those must be issued within 6 months from the date of the accident.

WEAU 13 News has a crew in New Richmond to cover this developing story. Watch at Noon for an update and later on WEAU 13 News at 5 and 6.