1 person killed after trailer wheel strikes vehicle near Highway 101 off-ramp
One person was killed on Highway 101 near Paso Robles on Thursday afternoon after a wheel came dislodged from a fifth-wheel trailer and landed on a vehicle traveling in the opposite direction.
The incident occurred about 2:20 p.m. south of South Spring Street, where Dean Levonian, 61, of St. Augustine, Florida, was driving a 2008 Ford F-150 truck towing a 2014 Crossroads fifth-wheel trailer about 55 mph southbound on Highway 101, according to a news release from the CHP’s Templeton office.
Levonian was driving in the No. 2 lane when the right rear wheel came off the rear axle of the trailer and rolled across the southbound lanes of traffic and over the median guardrail.
The wheel struck a 2019 Jeep Cherokee driven by Beverly Mays, 81, of San Miguel, who was traveling northbound about 60 to 65 mph in the No. 2 lane.
The impact from the wheel caused Mays’ right front passenger to sustain major blunt force trauma, and the man died from his injuries within minutes of the crash, the CHP release said.
Levonian didn’t know the wheel had come off his trailer, and a southbound motorist who witnessed the incident flagged him down. He was able to stop his truck and trailer north of Main Street, where officers talked to him.
There’s no indication that alcohol, drugs or distracted driving contributed to the incident, the CHP release said. It’s currently unclear why the wheel came loose from the trailer.
The CHP reported multiple other vehicle collisions in the same area around the same time. Caltrans closed the northbound Spring Street off-ramp and part of Highway 101 for hours following the incident.
This story was originally published October 29, 2020 at 5:15 PM.
