11-year-old Galt boy dies when car tumbles into river near Highway 50

An 11-year-old Galt boy died in a car crash early Wednesday near Ice House Road on Highway 50, the El Dorado County Coroner’s Office reports.

A driver lost control of a vehicle just after midnight, ejecting a 13-year-old girl and killing Tonino Trujillo, the California Highway Patrol reports.

A BMW driver was westbound and lost control of the vehicle heading westbound around a curve on Highway 50, the CHP reported. The vehicle began to skid, becoming airborne as it tumbled down a rocky embankment, colliding with several rocks. Eventually, the car landed on its roof in the American River, a CHP news release said.

Brent McElmurry, a spokesman for the CHP Placerville Division, said a few citizens stopped to upright the BMW and extract the driver from the wreckage. Fire personnel arrived and pulled Trujillo from the car.

A 13-year-old girl was ejected from the car and landed on rocks. According to the news release, she was not wearing a seat belt and suffered minor injuries. A 23-year-old woman escaped the wreckage safely, suffering only minor injuries.

Trisha Thompson, spokeswoman for the El Dorado County Sheriff ’s Department, said Trujillo was taken to a local area hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.

The crash is under investigation, McElmurry said.