Woodland California Highway Patrol officers are on the hunt for a big-rig driver that struck and killed a tow-truck operator Monday night in West Sacramento.
The fatal collision occurred sometime between 8:40 and 9 p.m. on westbound Highway 50, west of Jefferson Boulevard, as the tow-truck driver, identified by the CHP as 29-year-old Michael C. Bower of Dixon, placed orange emergency triangles into his truck on the freeway shoulder.
Bower had encountered mechanical trouble with his tow truck earlier that night and had pulled over to repair the malfunction.
As Bower stood on the left side of his truck, the unknown driver of a westbound big-rig “for unknown reasons allowed their vehicle to drift to the right,” CHP Officer Keerat Lal wrote in a news release. “The suspect’s vehicle subsequently sideswiped and struck Mr. Bower and the left front of his tow truck.”
Bower died at the scene. The big-rig continued traveling westbound, failing to stop at the collision scene as required by law, Lal said. It may have sustained damage to its right side as a result of the impact.
Anyone who was traveling through that area around the time of the crash and witnessed anything suspicious, or has any other information about this incident is urged to contact the Woodland CHP at 530-662-4685.
— Reach Lauren Keene at lkeene@davisenterprise.net or 530-747-8048. Follow her on Twitter at @laurenkeene