Police: Man who lost prosthetic in dumpster slept there to avoid 'chaos' at home

A man sleeping in a dumpster in McKees Rocks, who lost his prosthetic leg when he got tossed into the back of a garbage truck, was not homeless, authorities said.

The man, whose name has not been released, has a home in the neighborhood but left to escape what authorities described as “chaos.”

He decided to bed down in the dumpster because he knew it only contained paper, police said.

The incident occurred at about 2 a.m. April 18 along Munson Avenue, according to police.

The man was awakened when a garbage hauler came to empty the receptacle and lifted and tipped the dumpster’s contents — including him — into the truck.

The truck’s driver called 911 after hearing the man yelling from inside the truck.

But once inside the truck’s hopper, the man realized his prosthetic lower leg was missing and refused to come out so he could search for the limb, police said.

He was allowed to search for about half an hour before officers ordered him to stop.

The man did not appear to have any injuries but was taken to a hospital. He was later released.

The garbage hauler, Republic Services, told authorities that they planned to empty the receptacle separately when it was taken to a landfill to try to recover the prosthetic.

McKees Rocks police chief Richard Deliman said Tuesday that trash haulers were unable to locate the errant limb.