‘He never came back’: Wife of sanitation worker hit, killed by car mourns husband

CHARLOTTE — A Charlotte city worker collecting trash was hit and killed by a car Monday on Albemarle Road near The Home Depot, Charlotte-Mecklenburg police said.

Two sanitation workers stopped their garbage truck in the right-hand lane when they got out to empty trash cans that were along the curb.

A 2013 Toyota Prius driven by Eugene Banks was traveling east and without slowing down, struck Robert Taylor, who was emptying the receptacles into the rear of the garbage truck, police said.

Robert Taylor was taken to a hospital and later died.

Mayor Vi Lyles and City Manager Marcus Jones visited Robert Taylor’s family Monday to express their condolences and vow to support them.

“When things like this happen, we come together as an organization to make sure his spouse, Tammy Taylor, and their children and grandchildren understand that we are with them through the most difficult time of grief and loss,” Lyles said at a meeting on Monday.

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Robert Taylor worked for the city for more than 20 years.

“He would work every day, every day,” his wife, Tammy Taylor, said Tuesday. “You couldn’t get him to call out from work.”

Tammy Taylor is trying to grasp the family’s loss. Robert Taylor had four children and four grandchildren. He was the sole provider for the household.

“I just want to be able to keep the house that he worked so hard for,” Tammy Taylor said.

Police said Banks was not impaired, and it is unclear why he crashed into the truck. Speed was not a factor. Banks’ cellphones were seized and are part of the investigation to see if they were being used at the time of the crash, detectives said.

The garbage truck had its flashing lights on, and the workers were both wearing reflective gear, according to investigators.

“He left that next morning to go to work and just never came back,” Tammy Taylor said.

Banks was taken to the hospital after suffering serious injuries. He has been charged with misdemeanor death by motor vehicle.

On Tuesday, Channel 9 spoke with Jeremy Swett, a witness who tried to help. He said it’s something he will never forget.

“It’s a busy road out here, you never know,” Swett told Channel 9. “Anything can happen at any time.”

He heard the Prius slam into the back of the City of Charlotte waste truck.

“Basically, I just ran out to see that car into the back of the other one and ran around to the other side and that’s where he (Taylor) was and just did anything I could to help him,” Swett said. “My condolences to his family, to his friends, everyone. It’s a horrible, horrible thing to have happened here.”

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