Big rig overturns and hits power pole after rolling away from parking lot, CHP says

An unoccupied big rig overturned and crashed into a power pole along Highway 165 south of Los Banos, according to the California Highway Patrol.

Officers responded to the area of Highway 165 and Interstate 5 around 3:40 p.m. Sunday after a big rig hauling reinforcing bar and operating out of Fairfield rolled away from a gravel parking lot and overturned, hitting a power pole, according to CHP Officer Adam Tova.

The CHP said the driver, 43-year-old Lino Palomera of Stockton, parked the 2014 Freightliner with a flatbed trailer in a gravel parking lot near a Shell gas station off Highway 165.

The driver got out of the vehicle and walked to the gas station parking lot when he noticed the vehicle rolling forward in a north direction toward Highway 165, according to Tova.

Authorities said the driver ran to the vehicle and jumped on in an attempt to get inside, but fell off. The vehicle rolled downhill and northbound along Highway 165 over I-5 before reaching a curved section of the road.

As a the section of the highway curved to the left, the vehicle veered to the right, where it hit a guardrail before traveling down an embankment, overturning onto its roof and colliding with a power pole near Poleline Road, according to Tova. About 80 feet of guardrail was damaged in the crash, which resulted in the power pole leaning against the big rig, the CHP said.

Pacific Gas and Electric Co. personnel responded and shut down power to the lines as crews worked to repair the power pole, the CHP said.

Palomera suffered minor injuries and there is no estimate as to when power will be restored to the affected lines, according to the CHP.

This story was originally published May 10, 2020 at 6:19 PM.