Motorist killed when vehicle collides with disabled trailer in Anaheim
A 58-year-old motorist was killed when his car collided with a big-rig trailer that had become detached from a truck on a street in Anaheim, police said Saturday.
The truck was turning right in the 5300 block of East Palma Avenue about 6 a.m. Friday when the trailer it had been pulling separated, blocking two of the three westbound lanes, police Lt. Bob Dunn said.
Matthew Bretzing, 58, of Anaheim, was driving his silver Ford Focus westbound when it crashed into the disabled trailer, police said. Bretzing, the car’s sole occupant, was taken to UCI Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, said Larry Esslinger, the supervising deputy coroner.
The investigation into the accident is ongoing, Dunn said. It remains unclear how the big rig’s tractor and trailer separated, or why Bretzing’s vehicle collided with the trailer when there was still one westbound lane open.
“That’s something we’re looking into as well,” Dunn said.
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