Truck Without Driver Crashes Lomita Condo

A driverless 18-wheel tractor-trailer truck smashed into the garage of a condominium in Lomita, crushing two cars, severely damaging two units and frightening residents who thought they were experiencing an earthquake, authorities said today.

“We didn’t know what it was,” said Pat Muller, who lives directly above the garage. “We thought there was an earthquake because people from all around came out of their houses. Everything across and down the street was shaken.”

Muller said he and his wife, Dorothy, were watching the news on television in the living room of their $155,000 condominium in the 1800 block of West 202nd Street when the truck crashed shortly after 11 p.m. Thursday.

County Fire Department spokesman Paul Evans said it appeared that the driverless truck had been parked uphill from the complex on a steep section of Western Avenue and the brake somehow released.

The container on the truck rammed a deck above the garage, spraying shards from a pair of sliding glass doors and sending a barbecue grill into the middle of the Millers’ den.

“We normally sit in the den and watch television, but since I worked late we were watching the 11 o’clock news in the living room,” Muller said. Their 4-year-old son was asleep in a bedroom.

“We’re just lucky we were sitting where we were rather than in our normal place (or) we would not be speaking to you.”

Evans said the truck had “CP Transporter” written on the side, but the owner has not been confirmed.

Building and safety inspectors said the structure will have to be reinforced with steel girders before the truck is removed, Muller said.

Muller said he and his family will spend the night with neighbors. A family living in a unit next door, which also was damaged, will be evacuated during the removal, he said.

Muller, a loan officer for a Torrance finance company, added: “I just can’t believe it happened. Just another quiet night in Lomita.”