Homeowner killed by well drill

The Rockaway Township Police Department Communications Center reported that on Nov. 25 they received several 9-1-1 calls regarding a construction accident at a home on Midway Court.

Responding units, including the Rockaway Twp. Police and the Fire Department, were led to the backyard of the home, where they discovered a male entangled in a well drilling machine.

Police say that it was soon determined that the man was the homeowner, Robert Gibbons, 65.

According to reports, Gibbons, who had been working on a Geo-Thermal heating project for his own home, apparently became entangled with the drill. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Investigators from the Rockaway Township Police, the Morris County Prosecutors Office, and the Morris County Medical Examiner’s Office, have reported that their investigation determined there was no foul play involved, and that it was simply "an unfortunate and devastating accident."

It has also been reported that Gibbons, a township resident of 36 years, had been working alone in the backyard when the accident occurred and that he was the owner of the well drilling machine.

Rockaway Township Police Department was able to notify Gibbons’ family. He is survived by his wife of 41 years, Patricia E. (Coogan) Gibbons; his children, Robert Gibbons and wife, Erica, Christine Gibbons, Andrew Gibbons, and Maura Gibbons Papi and her husband, Jeff Papi; his sister, Eileen Sullivan; and his grandson, Cameron John Gibbons.

Gibbons served in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War and was had been working at Picatinny Arsenal in Rockaway.

Source: NorthJersey.com