Lodian pulls driver from toppled big rig
No injuries in wreck; driver thinks shifting load may have tipped truck
When Lodian Anthony Bonnett went to sleep on Sunday night, he had no idea that he’d be pulling a truck driver out of a tipped-over big rig before he made it to work the next day.
Shortly before 7:30 a.m. Monday, Bonnett was driving west on Highway 12 when he stopped at Thornton Road in Flag City, yielding to an eastbound big rig truck that was turning left at approximately 10 to 15 miles per hour, he said. That’s when the truck tipped over on its side on Thornton Road.
“It was one of those long international shipping containers — one of those big, heavy, metal ones,” Bonnett said. “He was coming around the corner as slow as can be, that’s why the accident was so weird.”
In less than three minutes, Bonnett said he climbed on top of the big rig’s cab and tried to open the door but found that it was too heavy. So he and the driver broke the window, allowing Bonnett to help the driver out.
“I kicked the window, he kicked it, then I ripped it out and tossed it to the side,” Bonnett said. “He didn’t appear to be injured, but his anxiety was pretty high.”
California Highway Patrol Officer Charlie Katzakian said the truck
tipped over at approximately 7:19 a.m. Monday when its load of approximately 40,000 pounds of soft wood shifted. The incident caused one lane of Highway 12 to be closed until approximately 10:42 a.m., although no injuries were reported
“(The driver) was just a pick-up-and-go driver, he thought the load was not secured properly,” Bonnett said. “He told me that in 20plus years, he’s never had an accident.”