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Tow truck driver is fatally hit while loading truck on side of highway, Texas cops say

A tow truck driver was fatally struck by a passing car on the entrance ramp to a highway. The driver tried to avoid hitting the truck. 
A tow truck driver was fatally struck by a passing car on the entrance ramp to a highway. The driver tried to avoid hitting the truck.  Getty Images/iStockphoto

A tow truck driver was killed by a passing van while loading a disabled vehicle onto his tow truck, Texas cops said.

Simon Garcia was taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead, according to the Houston County Sheriff’s Office.

Garcia was stopped at an entrance ramp of the Northwest Freeway in Houston to load a disabled vehicle onto his truck, deputies said.

As a Dodge Promaster cargo vanapproached the entrance ramp, the driver swerved to avoid hitting the tow truck. But the van ended up colliding with a trailer in the next lane before also hitting the tow truck and Garcia, deputies said.

No one else was injured in the accident, the sheriff’s office said.

Deputies say the van driver did not show signs of impairment during a preliminary investigation.

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This story was originally published February 15, 2024 at 8:16 AM with the headline "Tow truck driver is fatally hit while loading truck on side of highway, Texas cops say."

Kate Linderman
mcclatchy-newsroom
Kate Linderman covers national news for McClatchy’s real-time team. She reports on politics and crime and courts news in the Midwest. Kate is a 2023 graduate of DePaul University and is based in Chicago.
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