Man killed in crash on 60 Freeway at 57 Freeway transition in Diamond Bar

By Brian Day, San Gabriel Valley Tribune POSTED: 12/30/16, 9:05 AM PST|

DIAMOND BAR >> A Baldwin Park man died early Friday after his car was rear-ended by a pickup truck on the 60 Freeway in Diamond Bar, authorities said.

The fatal crash was first reported at 5:48 in the carpool lane of the westbound 60 Freeway, just west of Grand Avenue, California Highway Patrol Officer Rodrigo Jimenez said.

Paramedics pronounced the driver of the car, 33-year-old Rodolfo Enrique Fuentes III, dead at the scene, Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner Assistant Chief of Operations Ed Winter said.

Fuentes’ wife, a woman also in her 30s, was taken to a hospital with apparently minor injuries, authorities said.

The driver of the truck, described by the CHP as a 57-year-old Hesperia man, as well as a 32-year-old man riding as a passenger, suffered minor injuries but declined medical attention, officials said.

Coroner’s records indicated the car was rear-ended by the pickup truck traveling at a high speed, Winter said.

The 1997 Ford F-150 pickup truck was traveling at about 65 mph when it crashed into the rear of Fuentes’ 2007 Honda Civic, which was traveling ahead at a slower rate, CHP officials said in a written statement.

“The cause of the collision is not yet determined, however, the front of the F-150 collided with the right rear of the Honda,” according to the statement. “The force of the impact caused serious injuries to Mr. (Fuentes).”

The carpool lanes along the westbound 60 Freeway were shut down for about three hours as authorities investigated the scene and cleared the wreckage.

The deadly crash is being investigated by the CHP’s Baldwin Park-area office. Anyone with information can reach the office at 626-338-1164.