Bystander Saves Woman Trapped In Livermore Donation Bin

LIVERMORE, CA — A local man said he found and rescued a woman who was trapped in a Livermore donation bin for 45 minutes, dangling by her arm.

Steve Eveleth of Livermore said he was waiting outside the Benjamin Moore - Creative Paint store at 900 Bluebell Drive this month to pick up a can of paint when he heard the faint sound of a woman's scream. It was daytime, so he figured some people nearby were joking around.

But the screaming persisted.

He said he got his paint and walked around the back of the store. Nothing.

Eveleth looked around the back of the nearby 7-Eleven at 930 Springtown Blvd., too. Still nothing.

He said he started to worry that something more serious might be going on, just out of sight. The noise didn't sound playful, so Eveleth decided to drive around the shopping center just to make sure everything was OK.

He circled back to the 7-Eleven 10 minutes after his search began. Eveleth said he decided he could hear the screams most clearly there. He checked by some bushes and the back of a van with a sleeping driver. Nobody there, either.

Eveleth said he then caught a glimpse of something behind the store.

"Lo and behold, way in the back is the donation bin," he said. "Here she is, hanging out of it."

Eveleth said he approached cautiously, initially worried it might be a joke or setup. He soon realized her arm was caught in the jaws of the donation bin.

He returned to his car parked about 30 feet away and drove up behind the woman, Eveleth said. She stepped onto the hood of his car, and she was able to release the bin's jaws from her arm and pull herself out of the bin.

The woman told him that she was trapped for 45 minutes and couldn't feel her arm. She laid on the hood of his car for 15 minutes until medics arrived. The woman told first responders that she wanted to seek medical treatment, Eveleth said.

Eveleth filmed the encounter, which can be seen on ViralHog's YouTube channel.

The Livermore-Pleasanton Fire Department said details about the woman's condition are privileged, but officials confirmed they responded to a call of a woman trapped in a donation bin at Springtown Boulevard and Lassen Road.

In November 2018, a 30-year-old homeless woman was found dead, hanging halfway out of a Petaluma donation box, the Santa Rosa Press Democrat reported. Her mother later sued the manufacturer and bin operator.