Tow Company Owner Says He Helped His Driver Just Before Deadly Accident
WEST SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — The California Highway Patrol is looking for a driver who struck and killed a tow truck driver on Highway 50 and just kept driving.
The accident happened near Jefferson Boulevard in West Sacramento.
The CHP says the driver may not have known he or she struck the tow truck driver, but that doesn't mean the big rig driver wasn't breaking the law.
Octavio Portugal was stunned to find out his friend and employee Michael Bower was killed outside one of his tow trucks.
"We're devastated. I mean I wasn't able to sleep at all last night thinking about it," he said. "My heart just dropped, my gut got tight and I couldn't believe it."
He says he got a call from Bowers on Monday night saying the tow truck he was driving overheated on westbound Highway 50 near Jefferson Boulevard. Portugal responded and fixed the truck.
"As far as i knew, he was right behind me. And when I didn't hear back from him, I got worried," he said.
When he drove back, he saw the scene—a CHP officers discovered Mike's body, apparently hit by a big rig that swerved onto the shoulder but never stopped, leaving the 29-year-old to die.
It's not the first time a tow truck driver has been killed like this. A hit-and-run driver killed tow truck driver David Robinson, Jr. back in 2012 near Auburn.
CHP officer Pedro Leon says the state have a move-over law that all drivers must obey. Most don't.
"In California there is a law that dictates when your lights, warning lights, lets say CalTrans, or tow trucks, or law enforcement to move over or slow down," he said.
The hope now is that officers locate the driver that struck Bower and others follow the rules.