Crash Traps Two Men in Trash Truck
Three men were injured Thursday when a garbage truck rear-ended a tractor-trailer at the intersection of San Fernando Road and Balboa Boulevard.
It took Los Angeles firefighters almost 45 minutes to free the two men from the mangled cab of the waste truck.
Daniel Bea, 45, the driver of the garbage truck, complained of chest pain, and his passenger, Enrique Garcia, 30, fractured his left leg. Both men were in stable condition at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills Thursday night.
Jose Vega, 56, the big rig driver, also complained of chest pains and was taken to Granada Hills Community Hospital, where he was treated and released.
The 18-wheeler was stopped for a red traffic light on San Fernando Road under the Balboa Boulevard overpass at about 11:50 a.m. when it was rear-ended by the loaded trash truck, which was en route to the nearby Sunshine Canyon landfill, said Officer Dan Henry, traffic collision investigator with the Los Angeles Police Department.
Traffic from Balboa Boulevard was temporarily rerouted, resulting in a backup of large trucks on San Fernando Road.
A 60-ton tow truck was scheduled to haul the garbage truck to the landfill to empty its load.
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