Updated at 11:30 a.m. Oct. 18, 2017
Authorities Wednesday were working to positively identify a man who was struck and killed by a car while standing alongside his disabled pickup truck as it was being loaded onto a tow truck on a La Mesa off-ramp.
The crash happened about 5:50 p.m. Tuesday on the Lemon Grove Avenue off- ramp from westbound state Route 94, California Highway Patrol Officer Travis Garrow said.
The tow-truck driver and victim were standing outside the disabled pickup when, “for reasons unknown and still under investigation,” a Lexus hatchback crashed “into the rear of the utility trailer and then the pickup,” Garrow said.
The pickup’s driver sustained major head trauma and died at the scene, he said. The tow-truck driver sustained minor injuries and was taken to Sharp Memorial Hospital for treatment.
The driver of the 2015 Lexus CT200H, a 40-year-old National City man whose name was withheld, was uninjured, cooperative and stayed on scene to be interviewed, Garrow said.
Authorities do not suspect drugs or alcohol were a factor in the crash.
–City News Service