Woman Hurt in 5-Vehicle Crash; Truck Overturns
Traffic was backed up for hours Wednesday on the San Gabriel River Freeway in Whittier after a vacuum truck overturned, causing a five-car pileup and leaving one woman injured, officials said.
Carlos Meneses, 28, of Riverside was driving a 30,000-pound vacuum truck on the freeway south of Whittier Boulevard at 4:15 p.m. when he reached over to the passenger side to put down the sun visor, California Highway Patrol Officer Lyle Whitten said.
As he pulled down the visor, the truck, used by Sears Roofing Co. of Long Beach to vacuum up roofing rocks, smashed into a car, Whitten said.
Three other cars were also hit by the truck or by each other before the truck overturned on the side of the road, he said.
The driver of the first car hit, Pamelia Holmes, 28, of Downey was taken to Whittier Presbyterian Hospital in serious condition with injuries to her neck, back and abdomen, Whitten said.
The southbound lanes of the freeway were closed for three hours, causing a traffic backup for several miles, he said.
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