Crash Victim Is Identified

PALMDALE — A man who died after he lost control of his 1989 Ford pickup truck on Pearblossom Highway and slammed into two poles was identified Wednesday as Elbert R. McNabb of Albuquerque, officials said.

McNabb, 57, was towing a 24-foot travel trailer behind his pickup truck on eastbound Pearblossom Highway about 2:45 p.m. Tuesday when he hit the traffic signal posts, said Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy Jeff Perkins.

He was driving too fast and did not have time to slow down at a red light at Barrel Springs Road, Perkins said. McNabb veered to the right to avoid hitting the cars in front of him, striking the poles.

No one else was injured.

“My guess is he was not paying attention,” Perkins said. “He made a choice and chose not to hit the other cars. It cost him his life.”

McNabb suffered massive internal injuries. Los Angeles County Fire Department paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene.

Co-workers told officials that McNabb, who was part of a group of private contract electricians, had just finished a job at Vandenberg Air Force Base in Lompoc and was driving home to New Mexico.