Good Samaritan Killed While Helping Driver On I-495 In Raynham
RAYNHAM (CBS) - A Good Samaritan who stopped to help a driver who just hit a deer was killed on Interstate 495 in Raynham early Friday morning.
Just before 1 a.m. State Police said a 44-year-old man from Chesapeake, Virginia was driving with two other adults and a 7-year-old child when his SUV hit a deer in the southbound lanes. The damaged SUV ended up broken down in the middle travel lane.
Another driver, 37-year-old Luis Contreras of Taunton, saw the wreck from his pickup truck and pulled over into the breakdown lane to help. State Police said while Contreras was walking into the travel lanes that's when a third car hit him, killing him.
The driver of the third car, 21-year-old Leomar Fontes of Rockland, told WBZ-TV he was on his way home from work and noticed that an Audi SUV had hit a deer and that another driver came out of his car to see what was going on.
"Apparently the guy that got out to go help out the guy out in the Audi was in the middle of the street and by the time I noticed him it was too late and I'm doing 60 (miles per hour)," Fontes said. "I guess when he seen me he panicked, so he didn't know which way to go. So I tried to swerve to the left lane and I managed just to hit him on the side of my car."
Fontes said the man died instantly. He added that the crash happened under a bridge and said it was very dark at the time.
"I couldn't see nothing over there," he explained. "When I hit that guy, another car almost hit me the same way I hit him too, because over there is so dark."
Fontes said he tried to swerve into the left lane away from Contreras, but unfortunately still hit him.
Fontes and the driver of the Audi were not hurt. Police took all three vehicles after the crash.
Conteras was the owner of a Mexican restaurant in Wareham.
No charges have been filed at this point in the investigation.