North County
A state park ranger was killed Monday after he was thrown from a pickup truck that veered off a rain-slick roadway and tumbled down an 80-foot embankment, said Bob Melton, a California Highway Patrol public information officer.
George Kowatch III, 41, who lived on Palomar Mountain, was driving the state vehicle eastbound on California 76, three miles west of California 79 near Lake Henshaw, when he crashed after coming out of a slight curve, Melton said.
He was taken by ambulance to Palomar Hospital, where he died at 10:12 a.m., Deputy Coroner Jack Larkie said.
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