SYLMAR MAN CRUSHED BETWEEN TRASH TRUCKS.

Byline: - Rodney Tanaka 

A Sylmar man died Friday after being crushed between two trash trucks at the Puente Hills Landfill, officials said.

Arnoldo Milanez, 29, drove for Perez Transport in Sun Valley and is survived by his wife and child, said Maria Garcia, president of Perez Transport.

Milanez pulled to the side past the scales on the road leading to the exit about 10:45 a.m., said John Gulledge, department head of the Sanitation Districts of Los Angeles County, which operates the landfill on the Whittier-Hacienda Heights border.

He stopped behind another tractor-trailer from Perez Transport and walked between the two vehicles, Gulledge said, but his brakes might not have been set.

``His truck began to move forward,'' Gulledge said. ``He got pinned between the two vehicles.''

The landfill had closed to incoming trash trucks so operations were not affected, Gulledge said. The site was cordoned off and trucks were sent along a different route.

Milanez had worked for Perez Transport since May 9, 2000, with a brief period away from the company between March 15 and April 2 of this year, Garcia said.

He had dumped his trash load before the incident, and Garcia said she did not know what he had taken to the landfill.

The company has 10 drivers and services commercial and residential customers in the Los Angeles area, she said.

She did not know why Milanez got out of his truck, but thought perhaps he wanted to ask something of his colleague in the truck in front of him.