Irvine Man Dies in Fall From Overpass
A 32-year-old man apparently fell to his death Thursday while talking on a cell phone from a freeway overpass in San Juan Capistrano, police said.
Investigators said the man, an Irvine resident, stopped his 1999 Ford Explorer about 3:30 p.m. at the top of the ramp from the northbound Santa Ana Freeway to the northbound San Joaquin Transportation Corridor toll road. He then stepped out of the car and made a call on his cell phone, police said.
“He was on the phone talking to somebody while leaning on a 3-foot-high concrete railing,” said Officer Mark Reeves, a spokesman for the California Highway Patrol. “Apparently he just fell over it. We don’t know why. He fell 87 feet into a concrete culvert.”
The man, whose identity was withheld pending notification of relatives, was pronounced dead at the scene. Reeves said investigators have not determined whether the car malfunctioned but do know that the man’s last phone call was not to the American Automobile Assn. or the CHP.
“We don’t know who he was talking to,” Reeves said. “It sounds like he leaned backward on the rail and just fell over.”
Investigators were still at work late Thursday.
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