The State - News from May 17, 1985

A runaway beer truck, apparently with no brakes, hurtled down a steep road in a shopping area in the Oakland hills, killing a 9-year-old boy and narrowly missing four other children, police said. The truck also hit five parked cars, knocked over a fire hydrant and a sign and crashed through a fence before plummeting over a 30-foot embankment and ended up on its side along the Warren Freeway. Police said the truck may have lost its brakes on the steep incline. Killed was Jess Becherer, 9, who was on his way home from school. The truck driver, Patrick McGinnis, 23, of San Leandro, suffered minor head injuries.