On Monday, February 13, a California man died while cutting palm fronds from a tree at a home near a golf course in Bonita. The tree was roughly 80 feet tall.

Bardomiano Bautista-Perez, 39, of Escondido, California, was identified as the tree trimmer.

On Monday about 11:30 am, police were summoned to a residence on Bonita Verde Drive. When police arrived, they found Bautista-Perez’s coworkers attempting to free him from a palm tree about 50 feet above the ground.

Workers informed authorities that Perez was trimming the palm tree’s fronds when he was struck by them, causing him to fall from the 80-foot tree and become trapped in the fronds below.

Firefighters in Chula Vista reportedly got to Perez quickly using a long ladder and began treating him. Thirty more minutes passed before they were finally able to cut him down and release him from the dense foliage.

The man was unresponsive when rescuers finally brought him to the ground. They attempted CPR, but it wasn’t enough to bring him back to life.

Officials from the medical examiner’s office reported that Perez was sadly pronounced dead at the scene.

Chief of the Chula Vista Fire Department’s Battalion, Tim Mehrer, issued a statement saying that similar incidents involving palm fronds falling on tree trimmers had occurred before. He explained that the leaves that fall on the pruners are unique to certain palm tree types.

Perez and his crew of four were working on their second assignment of the day when the accident occurred. They had been hired by a friend.

His daughter has expressed interest in starting a tree-trimming business in his name.