44,000 Pounds Dumped in Los Alamitos : Truck Crash Spills Yogurt Into Creek

A truck driver who apparently fell asleep hit a car stalled in the slow lane of the San Gabriel River Freeway in Los Alamitos, then tumbled down an embankment into a creek bed, spilling 30 gallons of diesel fuel and 44,000 pounds of yogurt Wednesday, authorities said.

Christopher Allen Cox, 25, of Foresthill, Calif., who was driving the semi rig from Sacramento for Johnston Foods, suffered moderate injuries in the accident, according to the California Highway Patrol.

His vehicle ran into an unoccupied Honda Prelude, then went over an embankment into Coyote Creek near the Katella Avenue exit, CHP Officer Leslie Lazo said.

The truck came to rest in the creek’s eight-foot-wide channel, where the trailer’s side split open and dumped the packages of yogurt, Lazo said.

“It all just opened up like a can opener. Yogurt was floating down the river.”

Cox was treated for facial cuts and bruises suffered when he hit his head against the steering wheel, Lazo said. He also complained of neck and back injuries and was taken to Los Alamitos Medical Center. He had apparently been driving since Tuesday afternoon, she said.

The driver of the car, Erica Sue Starksen, 24, of Downey, was uninjured. She had been heading back to her car after calling for service on an emergency phone 30 feet away, Lazo said.

Lazo said Starksen’s car was a total loss. “The truck just ran right over it. If she would have been back (to her car) 20 seconds earlier, she would have been killed.”

Long Beach Fire Department crews cleaned up a diesel fuel spill that ran into the San Gabriel River, which is fed by the creek, said Officer Jeanne Jungers of the CHP.

Traffic from the accident, which occurred at about 8:35 a.m., was backed up 2 1/2 miles, Jungers said.