Father Finds Driver of Crane Killed in Crash

A heavy-equipment hauler was crushed to death by a 50-ton crane he was driving Monday near Canoga Park, almost within sight of his father and only hours before he was to travel to Kansas City for a Christmas visit with his mother.

Within minutes of the accident, the body of Richard Lee Smarr, 33, of South San Gabriel, was discovered by the side of Woolsey Canyon Road west of Valley Circle Boulevard by Smarr’s father, who had been following the crane in a flatbed tractor-trailer truck, said California Highway Patrol Officer Kenn Rosenberg.

Smarr and his father, William Rapp, were hauling the crane and the truck for a Los Angeles machinery-moving firm that employed them, Rosenberg said.

Smarr lost control of the crane about 1:45 p.m. while eastbound on Woolsey Canyon Road, Rosenberg said. The crane, on a downhill run, climbed an embankment beside the road and toppled onto its side. Smarr jumped or was thrown from the vehicle and was crushed underneath it, Rosenberg said.

Smarr had begun living and working with his father after moving from Kansas City to South San Gabriel in October, Rosenberg said. He was scheduled to fly to Kansas City on Monday night, he said.

A passenger on the crane, Jesus Reza, 19, of La Puente, was listed in fair condition at Nu-Med Regional Medical Center in Canoga Park. Reza, who was riding in the crane’s scoop, sustained a broken wrist.

The CHP was investigating what caused Smarr to lose control of the crane, CHP Officer Kent Buzbee said. The preliminary investigation indicated Smarr might have driven into the embankment to try to slow the crane, which may have had a mechanical breakdown, Buzbee said.