Man Hit by Truck Plunges to Death in Pit

A driverless truck careened down a steep hill in downtown Los Angeles Friday morning, hit a passing car, then struck a man as he waited for a light--knocking him through a plywood fence to his death at the bottom of an 80-foot construction pit.

Another pedestrian was injured in the bizarre accident about 10:30 a.m. at the intersection of Grand Avenue and 5th Street, across the street from the Biltmore.

The driver of the truck, who was not immediately identified, had parked it on the hill on Grand between 4th and 5th streets, locked it and had gone into a nearby building, said Lars Oakander, a Los Angeles police detective.

For some reason, the vehicle started to roll, picking up considerable speed, the detective said.

An unidentified passer-by ran alongside the Ford pickup trying to get inside, but the doors were locked, Oakander said.

“He tried to hold the truck back” with his hands, Oakander added. “But you know what it’s like trying to hold onto a vehicle when it’s moving.”

Only a stack of wood, he said, kept the pickup from plunging into the huge, concrete-lined pit, which is to be a four-story underground parking garage for the Los Angeles Central Library.

The dead man was identified a Francisco Molina Espinoza, 38, of La Puente.

He suffered massive injuries and fractures as he fell into the pit and struck a series of steel supports, Oakander said.

The second pedestrian, an unidentified man who also had been waiting for a light to change, was taken to Good Samaritan Hospital, where he was treated and released. The driver of the car that was struck apparently was not hurt.

Jonas Matz, a movie crew medical technician, was working inside the Biltmore when he heard that there had been an accident. He grabbed his medical bag and ran to the scene.

“I climbed over the hood of the truck and suddenly there was this huge hole that I didn’t expect,” he said. “I looked down and there was a construction worker standing on a little platform about halfway down. I don’t know if he jumped out of the way or what.”

The construction worker, who was not injured, pointed out the body at the bottom of the hole. Matz said Espinoza was unconscious when he reached him and died minutes later.

No charges have been filed against the truck’s owner.

Police did not know if he had put the truck’s emergency brake on or if the truck was in park or neutral, Oakander said.

Charges could be filed later if the truck owner is found to have acted negligently, Oakander said.