Cement truck pins SUV

Marisa O’Neil

A full cement truck toppled onto an SUV Wednesday morning, trapping a

Santa Ana man inside his Pathfinder for an hour.

Rescue crews cut 25-year-old Billy Williams out of his Nissan SUV

and airlifted him to Western Medical Center, where he was treated for

minor injuries Wednesday afternoon, despite the truck’s landing on

the driver’s side of his Pathfinder, Newport Beach Police Sgt. Steve

Shulman said.

The accident happened just after 11:30 a.m., when the cement

truck was turning right from southbound Newport Coast Drive onto

Pelican Hill Road North. The cement truck, driven by 24-year-old

Daniel Fisk, tilted and fell on top of Williams’ SUV, which was

stopped in the eastbound right lane at the traffic light on Pelican

Hill Road.

“All of a sudden, it popped right over,” said Tuan Pham, a

photographer who happened to be in the area for another assignment.

“There was no screeching.”

Fisk climbed out of the cement truck and was not injured, Shulman

said.

David Ray, a 29-year-old Anaheim resident, was in the passenger

seat of Williams’ Pathfinder, but escaped serious injury. Ray and

Williams, who work for Extreme Audio Video, had just finished

installing outdoor speakers in a nearby home and were headed to

lunch, said Brian Chappell, the company’s owner.

Chappell rushed to the accident scene after Ray got out of the

crushed SUV and called to tell him what happened.

“It’s such a freak accident,” Chappell said. “I was in shock.”

Williams was pinned in his car for an hour while rescue crews

worked to lift the full cement truck just enough to move the

Pathfinder. Paramedics treated Williams, who appeared conscious, with

intravenous fluids while firefighters removed the windshield,

driver’s-side door and roof from his SUV.

Williams was able to move his arms as he was loaded into a waiting

ambulance and driven to a helicopter, which had landed just north of

the scene on Newport Center Drive. Police closed Newport Center Drive

between Vista Ridge Road and Pacific Coast Highway just after the

accident.

Paramedics treated a visibly shaken Ray for minor injuries at the

scene.

Witnesses told police the cement truck appeared to be traveling at

a slow rate of speed, Shulman said. The loaded truck was coming down

a hill, however, and turning onto a street with a moderate slope.

The intersection has had its share of accidents, neighbors said.

“It’s been a resident concern going on 10 years,” said Melodie

Lamont, executive director for Merit Property Management, Inc., which

handles properties in the area. “Part of the puzzle is the

ever-present construction traffic. Another part is the

[intersection’s] construction and the angle of it.”

Cole Trider, who lives in the gated Montecito community near the

intersection, said he has seen at least three accidents there, where

cars and trucks gain speed on the straight downgrade. He said he

always keeps to the right at that intersection, anticipating

wide-turning construction trucks or drivers taking the turn too fast.

“Everyone in Newport Coast knows you don’t go near the double

yellow line,” he said.

Police opened northbound Newport Coast Drive at about 1:15 p.m.,

but southbound lanes remained closed throughout the afternoon,

Shulman said.

* MARISA O’NEIL covers education. She may be reached at (949)

574-4268 or by e-mail at marisa.oneil@latimes.com.