A King City woman was killed Monday morning in an automobile
accident in San Juan Bautista when her car crashed into the back of
a tractor-trailer rig.
A King City woman was killed Monday morning in an automobile accident in San Juan Bautista when her car crashed into the back of a tractor-trailer rig.
April Trinidad, 28, of King City was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident at the intersection of Highway 156 and The Alameda, the San Benito County Sheriff’s Department said.
Pieces of shattered glass, twisted metal and fiberglass littered the rain-slickened highway as fire, ambulance and sheriff’s deputies raced to the scene.
The accident happened at about 8:22 a.m. when a big rig hauling a tractor and other farm equipment was stopped at a red light in an eastbound lane on Highway 156 at the intersection with The Alameda, the sheriff’s department said. The big rig was driven by a 36-year-old Chualar man, whose name was not released by investigators.
Trinidad, driving a white Pontiac coupe eastbound on Highway 156, failed to slow for traffic as she approached the intersection and struck the rear of the big rig.
Investigators said they can not confirm reports that Trinidad may have been using a cell phone at the time of the accident.
The force of the collision nearly sliced off the top of the Pontiac as it slid beneath the rear of the big rig, then bounced back.
The accident blocked the eastbound lanes of the highway for about an hour while emergency crews attended to the accident.
Investigators with the sheriff’s department said they are still trying to piece together the cause of the crash that took Trinidad’s life. The sheriff’s department’s detective division has taken over the case and is conducting the investigation.
There were no immediate indications that alcohol or drugs were factors in the accident. However, an autopsy to determine the exact cause of Trinidad’s death is scheduled to be conducted Wednesday and investigators will have to wait two weeks for the results of a toxicology test before rendering a final determination on whether alcohol or drugs were involved.
A toxicology test screens a sample of a victim’s blood for alcohol content, traces of narcotics or any other drugs.
The sheriff’s department is asking anyone who witnessed the accident to call Detective David Hackman at 636-4080.
