San Diego

A man was killed instantly Tuesday night when he was apparently pushed in front of a truck and dragged 100 feet along a downtown highway during a fight with another man, police said.

The body of Teofilo Hernandez, 28, was found lying along California 163 near 10th Avenue about 10 p.m. by police officers responding to a report of an accident, a police spokesman said.

Hernandez’s wife, Noelia, told police that her husband had fought a man along the highway’s center divider after the man grabbed her purse in an apparent robbery attempt. During the fight, Hernandez was pushed into the path of the truck, and died instantly, an official said.

The driver did not stop, and the truck, described as a white stake-bed with an overhead cab, was last seen heading south on 10th Avenue, police said. The driver is being sought by the California Highway Patrol.

Police are also searching for the man who pushed Hernandez. He is described as black, age 30-35, 6 feet tall, with a full beard.

A small amount of marijuana was found at the accident scene on Noelia Hernandez, police said.

Police said they did not know why the three were on the center divider, but that they were investigating the death as possibly drug-related.

Hernandez, a Mexican citizen who held an amnesty card, lived in Southeast San Diego and worked as a cook in Spring Valley, police said.