Collision Sends Truck Into River
driver of a cement mixer was critically injured Wednesday when his rig collided with a car on the Corona Freeway and tumbled 40 feet from a bridge spanning the Santa Ana River.
John Williamson, 55, of San Gabriel, was taken to the neurological intensive care unit at Riverside General Hospital, where he was in critical condition with a fractured neck, a hospital spokeswoman said.
His truck struck a 1977 Toyota Celica, driven by Anthony Neisinger, 24, of Corona, after the Toyota crossed from the northbound to the southbound lane, said Highway Patrol spokesman John Anderson.
Neisinger had encountered slowing traffic, applied his brakes and spun out of control, Anderson said. When the two vehicles collided, the mixer fell off the bridge.
Neisinger was treated for bruises and scrapes, then released from Corona Community Hospital, a spokeswoman there said.
The Corona Freeway, which connects the Riverside Freeway west of Corona with the Chino-Pomona area and the San Bernardino Freeway to the north, was closed “on and off” for about an hour because of the accident, Anderson said.
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