LOCAL : 2 Men Hurt on Golden State

A truck driver and a mechanic were seriously injured when a suspected drunk driver veered his car off the Golden State Freeway near Castaic and struck them as they were working on the engine of a tractor-trailer rig that had broken down, the California Highway Patrol reported this morning.

Gerardo Sandoval, 30, of Salinas and Paul Mangold, 46, of Lancaster were both in stable condition at Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital in Valencia after the accident Thursday afternoon, CHP Officer Jim Swearingen said. Both men suffered broken legs and other injuries, and Sandoval had a head injury.

The driver of the car that hit the men, Gerald Wick, 53, of Frazier Park, was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence, Swearingen said.

Swearingen said Sandoval was driving the big rig south on the freeway when it broke down about two miles south of Templin Highway and he pulled onto the shoulder. Mangold then arrived and began working on the engine of the truck while Sandoval stood nearby.

Wick was driving southbound when his car veered off the freeway, sideswiped the truck’s trailer and then hit the two men who were standing on the driver’s side of the truck cab, the CHP said. He stopped and aided the injured men until paramedics arrived.