MODESTO, Calif. (AP) — An off-duty police officer is dead and a state highway worker is hospitalized after a big-rig slammed into stopped traffic on a Central California highway.
Road work was being done Wednesday afternoon on State Route 132, limiting traffic to just one lane. A flagman was being used so east and west vehicles could take turns using the one lane.
The flagman, California Department of Transportation worker Brian Smith, had signaled eastbound traffic to stop just before the crash.
A Nissan and Honda were stopped when the big-rig struck the Honda, killing the off-duty Oakdale officer on impact and sending the Nissan into the 51-year-old Caltrans worker.
The Modesto Bee (http://bitly.com/VJ2N06 ) says the name of the officer is being withheld because relatives are still being contacted.
Smith is hospitalized.
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Information from: The Modesto Bee, http://www.modbee.com
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.