A 56-year-old man was killed when his car struck a dislodged trailer that had separated from the front of the truck and blocked traffic lanes, a police lieutenant said Saturday.
The big rig was pulling out of a business in the 5300 block of East La Palma Avenue and aking a left turn onto the westbound street. The trailer it was hauling somehow unlatched from the tractor, leaving the unlit trailer blocking the center and right lanes of the three-lane street, said Anaheim police Lt. Bob Dunn.
Matthew Bretzing, 56, of Anaheim was driving his Ford Focus east, and it crashed into the trailer, causing fatal injuries. He was the only person in the car, Dunn said, and officers were dispatched to the crash about 6 a.m. Friday.
Paramedics rushed the motorist Bretzing to UCI Medical Center, where he was died from his injuries at 7:25 a.m. Friday, according to the Coroner’s Office.
Dunn said it was not immediately known why Bretzing was unable to dodge the disconnected trailer.
“Not sure what happened. There are three lanes there. There was an open lane,” he said, adding that the truck driver was not cited or arrested.
—City News Service