11 Injured in Runaway Truck Crash in El Toro

Eleven people were injured this morning after a runaway big-rig truck hauling 24 tons of dirt plowed into a worker’s trailer, causing a chain reaction that involved eight cars, the California Highway Patrol said.

Nobody was seriously injured in the 7:50 a.m. accident that left a tangled mess of trucks, cars, dirt and oil and tied up morning traffic on Lake Forest Drive and Trabuco Road--one of the busiest intersections in El Toro--for hours, CHP Officer Raul Martinez said.

“It blocked the entire intersection,” Martinez said, adding that traffic was rerouted to residential streets while police and county workers scooped up tons of dirt, and hauled mangled automobiles and truck parts away.

The runaway truck was completely demolished.

Police and witnesses said that the accident occurred when trucker Kevin Johnson’s brakes failed as he was driving the heavy rig downhill on Lake Forest Drive from a construction site at the north end of the road. Johnson realized that he could not stop the twin-trailer dirt hauler when he applied his brakes at a red light at Trabuco Road.

Meanwhile, co-worker Robert Kettleson, 31, of Corona was sitting in an identical truck waiting for the light to change. Six cars and a van were also idling at the light waiting to cross Trabuco Road, witnesses said.

Johnson, realizing that he would not be able to stop, steered toward the rear trailer of Kettleson’s truck, authorities said. The rig slammed into the trailer, and then ricocheted to the left, smashing into the van and another car. As it hopped the center divider, the truck hit a black Toyota. The cab then “disintegrated,” Sgt. Mike Johnson said.

“I felt a slight jolt,” Kettleson said. “I thought maybe a car hit me. But then I saw Kevin’s cab fly right by my window. I watched it fall apart.”

Johnson was able to crawl away from the ruined truck. The engine, still smoking, was torn from the twisted frame and landed a few feet from Johnson, witnesses said.

Johnson was listed in fair condition at Mission Hospital Regional Medical Center, hospital spokeswoman Nancy Gasho said.

Another driver was taken to that hospital, police said. The others were taken to Saddleback Memorial Medical Center. Their names were not immediately available.

CHP Officer William Martin said only five of the 10 brakes on the truck were operable. Henry Uyekawa, owner of the truck, said the drivers were responsible for adjusting the brakes on the rigs.

“This is a real unfortunate thing,” Uyekawa said. “I really feel bad about this.”

Johnson was cited for failing to adjust his brakes, Martin said.