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Pedestrian Dragged And Killed By Semi Truck In Downtown L.A.
A man was killed Thursday night when he was struck and dragged by a semi truck in downtown Los Angeles.
According to the Los Angeles Fire Department, the department received a call concerning an incident between a semi and a pedestrian at about 11:56 p.m. on Thursday night. The semi was headed north on Merchant Street, then made a right turn onto 7th Street. The pedestrian, who was walking west on 7th, was trapped by the semi’s rear tires when he stepped off the curb, KTLA reports.
The driver of the truck told officers that he had seen the man walking west on the south side of the sidewalk on 7th prior to making the turn, City News Service reports. After he made the turn, he felt a bump, as though he had struck something. He pulled over and discovered what had happened. The man had been dragged about 25 feet and was pronounced dead at the scene.
LAPD Sgt. Jack Richter tells LAist that the victim was a 30-year-old white man, but he has not been identified at this time. Richter said that the LAPD is still investigating how exactly the crash occurred, be it the truck clipping the curb, the pedestrian not realizing how close the truck would come to the curb, or something else entirely. So far, the driver has not been arrested or cited, and is cooperating with the investigation.
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