Florida dumpster sleepers end up trapped in garbage truck

A man and a woman sleeping in a dumpster after a night of drinking at a Florida casino ended up at a hospital complaining of back pain after they had to be rescued from a garbage truck, police said.

The garbage truck driver was on his route in Tampa Tuesday morning when he heard yelling and banging from the back of his vehicle, police said.

Upon pulling over, he discovered Donald Jordan, 37, and Lisa Sirbella, 49, in the back of the truck. They had been sleeping in a dumpster beside a Tampa restaurant when its contents were emptied into the truck.

"It was originally believed that they were homeless but it seems they were just really intoxicated after hanging out at the casino," the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office said in a statement.

Unable to get them out, the driver summoned authorities, who were able to free the pair.

The man and woman had no visible injuries but were taken to a hospital after complaining of back pain, police said.

The pair's relationship to each other was not immediately clear, police said.

"Luckily the driver was able to hear their screams but had the trash been compacted, this case would have ended very differently," said Cristal Bermudez Nunez, a sheriff's office spokeswoman.

(Reporting by Letitia Stein in Tampa, Florida; Writing by Jonathan Kaminsky; Editing by Bill Trott)