Sanitation worker pinned, likely killed, by truck Monday afternoon in La Jolla

A 22-year-old sanitation worker was injured, presumed fatally, after he was pinned against a building wall by the trash truck the morning of Monday, Oct. 2 in the alley off Torrey Pines Road between Girard and Herschel avenues in La Jolla.

The victim will not be identified until his next of kin are notified.

San Diego Police Commander Lt. Charles Lara said it appeared that the worker was driving his Tayman trash collection truck and emptying dumpsters in the alley when one of the receptacles got away from him. As he attempted to reconnect the dumpster to the truck, the truck began to move, pinning him against a wall.

“That injury, the pressure of that truck against a human body, is not survivable,” Lara said. “If he did not die on the scene, I suspect he will die on route to the hospital.”

The victim was transported to Scripps La Jolla hospital.