Paso Robles homeless man was run over and dragged 6 feet by truck, coroner says
The death of a homeless man who was run over by a Paso Robles city’s employee’s truck has been ruled an accident by the San Luis Obispo County Coroner’s Office.
A coroner’s report completed in October but provided to The Tribune in response to a records request this week also shows the man, Joseph Farrell Zigler, was dragged approximately six feet under the truck after he was laying in a bicycle path under the 13th Street Bridge in September 2019.
The cause of death was determined to be multiple blunt force trauma injuries, according to the report.
The employee — whom the city has not publicly identified and whose name was redacted in the report provided by the Sheriff’s Office — was conducting maintenance in a city-issued work truck at about 10:30 a.m. on Sept. 19, 2019.
The coroner’s report states that the employee drove the truck northbound onto the concrete bicycle path “at a slow speed,” while inspecting an irrigation drip line system installed on an embankment adjacent to the bike path.
“As (the employee) was driving under the bridge, he felt a ‘bump’ under the left side of his vehicle and initially thought he ran over a rock,” the report reads.
The report says that the employee got out of his truck to investigate the source of a puddle of water near the path, and when he returned to the vehicle, he noticed what appeared to be a “large bag” on the path just south of his truck.
“(The employee) walked to the suspected bag and noticed it was a human male and then realized he may have run over the male subject,” the report states.
The employee immediately contacted his supervisor, who contacted the Paso Robles Police Department.
Zigler was described as having been lying face-down in the path in a prone position before he was hit.
A responding sheriff’s detective told the medical examiner that Zigler had a large bruise on his back and it appeared as though Zigler was caught under the vehicle and dragged for approximately six feet. The man also had abrasions on his arms, chest and abdomen, consistent with being dragged.
When he was found, the 27-year-old Zigler had blood coming from his mouth and ears, and blood was pooling underneath his head.
Investigators also noted drug paraphernalia was found adjacent to Zigler’s body, and a toxicology report later showed his body tested positive for methamphetamine and opiates.
Police have said they don’t know why he was lying in the road that is also used as a walking path.
The city of Paso Robles said following the death that the employee, who has been with the city for over a decade, was “going through a very difficult time dealing with this tragedy.”
Paso Robles City Manager Tom Frutchey could not immediately be reached Thursday afternoon for additional information about the employee’s status.
Tribune Staff Writer Monica Vaughan contributed to this article.
This story was originally published January 30, 2020 at 2:12 PM.
