CHICAGO – A Chicago coffee expert has been crushed to death by a falling coffee machine he was trying to dismantle.
Jim Karr was a “legend and mentor to the entire specialty coffee community,” according to Dark Matter Coffee’s Facebook page.
The 48-year-old had been trying to dismantle a commercial-grade coffee maker after an outside event at the city.
Karr lost his balance and grabbed on to the machine, which then fell on top of him, crushing him.
He was rushed to Northwestern Memorial Hospital but died of head and chest wounds.
The death, which happened at a charity Bike the Drive event, has been ruled an accident, the Chicago Tribune reported.
Mr Karr, who for many years was the director of brewing technology at Intelligentsia Coffee in Chicago, left in August 2012 to found SteamVolt, a company that specialises in technical support to brewers and works to bring innovation to coffee brewing equipment.
Mr Karr was a well-known and popular figure in the coffee industry, with contacts as far afield as San Francisco paying tribute to him.
Staff at Dark Matter Coffee declined to comment further Tuesday, asking for time to grieve for Karr. Some staff members were with Karr when the accident happened Saturday.
