Driver of Truck That Hit 2 Homes Surrenders, Is Freed

The driver of a tractor-trailer that ran off the Hollywood Freeway and struck two houses turned himself in to authorities Friday, three days after the accident.

California Highway Patrol Officer Jim Young said Reginald Davis, 31, of Hawthorne, who is under investigation for leaving the scene of an accident and driving with a suspended license, was not arrested and was released after he gave a statement about the accident.

The CHP also said that he was not the driver listed on the truck’s documents and that the company did not check the status of his license, according to Officer Jeff Harman.

Peggy Caley, president of J. Cal Transportation, which owns the truck, said the Lakewood company did not have time to check Davis’ record with the state Department of Motor Vehicles because he was hired at the last minute over the weekend when the regular driver got sick.

Davis told authorities that a car hit the truck before the Tuesday night accident, causing him to lose control of the vehicle. However, officers who were at the accident believe Davis hit an abandoned car parked on the shoulder.

“He said he was dazed and confused and wandered off from the crash and that he woke up two days later lying in the bushes adjacent to the freeway,” Young said.

Davis asked a resident of one of the Babcock Avenue houses that had been hit to call 911, then disappeared.

Young said the CHP will ask the Los Angeles city attorney’s office to file two misdemeanor charges against Davis for leaving the scene of an accident and for driving without a license.

The DMV reported that Davis had his license suspended in October for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs and that he was holding a chauffeur’s license, not the truck driver’s license required to drive an 18-wheeler.