Encinitas
A Good Samaritan who stopped on southbound Interstate 5 to help a fellow motorist replace a flat tire was killed Wednesday when a wheel came off a truck and struck him in the chest.
The victim, identified as Kevin Scott Stratford, 23, of Carlsbad, stopped to assist Jacob McClure, 37, of Cardiff near Manchester Avenue when he pulled over about 7 a.m. to fix a flat tire. Stratford was returning to his car after the flat had been changed when he was struck by the tire, which killed him instantly. A second wheel from the truck bounded into the northbound lanes of I-5, triggering a three-car pileup. There were no injuries reported in that accident.
California Highway Patrol officers believe that the wheels came off the truck when the lug nuts were sheared.
No charges have been brought against the driver of the truck, Gilbert Wilson, 45, of Corona.
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