CUMBERLAND — Arthur Hyatt, a 57-year-old Central Falls resident and Vietnam War veteran, died on Sunday — his birthday — when his car landed on him in the parking lot of a local American Legion Post.

The police say there is no reason to believe the death is suspicious and are treating the incident as an accident. A report from the state medical examiner’s office is pending.

Hyatt, of Lonsdale Avenue, was alone when he drove his 1991 Ford Explorer into the parking lot of the American Legion Post 14, 695 Broad St., sometime before 5:20 p.m.

The lot, in the rear of the building, is two-tiered, with one half of it atop a steep, rocky ledge and accessible via two ramps at either end of the lot.

The police and bar patrons yesterday said that they believe Hyatt drove up one of the ramps but perhaps went too fast and tumbled off the ledge. The police received a call from one of the bar patrons but were not saying yesterday whether there were any witnesses to the accident.

Hyatt, who was dead by the time the police arrived, suffered a serious blow to his head and was found under the crushed hood of the overturned vehicle, according to the police.

His body was taken to the medical examiner’s office. A final report on the cause of the accident from Sgt. Mark England, of the department’s accident reconstruction team, is pending.

Don Morin, a trustee at the Garfield Social Club on Hunt Street in Central Falls, said yesterday that Hyatt had planned a birthday party at the club that evening. The club had booked a classic rock cover band that Hyatt liked and told guests to come down around 7 p.m.

“We hadn’t seen him in about a week so we weren’t sure if he was coming. Then we heard about the accident. I thought they were joking,” said Morin.

James Rogers, another social club trustee, remembered the distinctive cackle Hyatt had. “Like Snagglepuss,” said Rogers, referring to the pink cartoon mountain lion created by Hannah-Barbera.

Short, stocky and with graying hair and a gray goatee, he “got along good with everybody, but he was quiet, a loner,” said Morin. The former Army mechanic worked at The Metal Spraying Co., on Lonsdale Avenue in Central Falls.

Shop owner Fred Goulart was unavailable yesterday, but Joe DaLomba, who owns High Tech Construction, located next door to the shop, said that Hyatt had worked at the shop for at least 15 years.

“He was a very sweet fellow, a mellow, easygoing guy. He’d never raise his voice,” DaLomba said.

Born and raised in the Smith Hill neighborhood of Providence, Hyatt, who was single, left two sons, the oldest of whom is 11 years old, according to friends. Both boys reside in Warwick.

pmarcelo@projo.com