A postman apparently in the throes of an unidentified medical emergency crashed his mail truck into an eastern San Diego County market Tuesday and later died, authorities said.
The eastbound postal van struck an unoccupied parked vehicle before smashing into the front of the liquor and grocery store in the 9500 block of Jamacha Boulevard in La Presa shortly after 11 a.m., according to the California Highway Patrol.
It took emergency crews about 10 minutes to free the unresponsive mailman from the wreckage, said San Miguel Fire & Rescue Battalion Chief Justin Fuller.
Medics performed CPR on the 50-year-old postal worker at the scene before taking him to Sharp Grossmont Hospital in La Mesa, where he was pronounced dead, CHP public affairs Officer Jeff Christy said. The victim’s name was withheld pending family notification.
“The investigation into the medical condition suffered by the postal employee is still under investigation,” the officer said in the late afternoon.
An ambulance crew took a patron of the business to Sharp Memorial Hospital in San Diego for treatment of a moderately serious lower-leg injury he suffered in the wreck.
A civil engineer was summoned to gauge the structural integrity of the commercial building, which sustained extensive damage in the accident, Fuller said.
— City News Service