Pickup accident injures pedestrian

Published: Monday, November 30, 1998

Monday, November 30, 1998

WESTWOOD: Man pinned beneath truck breaks leg, injuries head, neck, back

By Ann Hawkey and Greg Lewis

Daily Bruin Senior Staff

A man was left hospitalized with severe injuries this weekend after being run over by a pickup truck.

Matthew Sparks, a man who appeared to be in his early twenties, was walking west on Strathmore Drive when he was hit by the truck, a light blue Chevrolet S-10.

The truck was pulling forward out of a driveway at 10941 Strathmore Dr., just after 1:00 a.m. on Wednesday.

Sparks was pinned in front of the right rear tire after the front tire rolled over him.

Paramedics used inflatable pillows to lift the truck off Sparks, who was semi-conscious at the time.

"He definitely shattered his right leg, and there were also head, neck and back injuries," said Captain Digrado of the Los Angeles Fire Department, Task Force 37.

Sparks was treated at the UCLA Medical Center, where he is still under the care of doctors.

"We don't know any of the particulars right now," said Sparks' father, a San Diego resident.

"The doctors are telling us it's going to be seven to 10 days before we know anything," he said.

Police questioned the driver of the truck and administered a sobriety test before leaving him at the scene. His identity has not been confirmed.

Police also questioned another witness at the scene.

The driver, who appeared to be in his early twenties, was seen by witnesses crying on the shoulder of a woman shortly after the police arrived.

A crowd of about 25 onlookers gathered to watch the rescue effort.

The truck that hit Sparks belongs to an unidentified woman who was riding in the passenger's seat at the time of the accident.

Both the driver and the passenger declined to comment.

Witnesses overheard the driver saying he didn't see the victim because the driveway was too steep and he could not see the sidewalk.

The driveway which the truck was pulling out of has a steep slope, making it difficult to see pedestrian traffic until immediately before the sidewalk, said Anoush Hakimi, an observer and a third-year political science student.

"At about 1:20 I heard a some guy screaming 'Get off, just get off.' The scream was really loud, like somebody was really in trouble," Hakimi said.

Digrado said that the driver was probably driving too fast out of the driveway.

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