Costa Mesa : Trucker Crushed While Teaching Man to Drive

A 54-year-old truck driver teaching another man how to drive a tractor-trailer rig in a dirt lot was killed Saturday when a rig driven by the trainee accidentally crushed him, police reported.

Robert George White, 54, of Riverside County was teaching Joseph Henry Letender, 58, of Anaheim how to drive the rig on private property at 1215 W. Baker St., at Fairview Road, said Lt. John Moquin.

White was on the ground when Letender, driving the truck, pulled forward and crushed the teacher between the moving rig and another truck that was parked at the lot, Moquin said.

White was pronounced dead on arrival at Fountain Valley Regional Hospital, he said.

Both trucks belonged to Razor Trucking of Colton, Moquin said. The victim was employed as a truck driver with the firm, but Letender’s relationship to the company was not known, Moquin said.