Big rig driver dies after being run over by tow truck on 60 Freeway in Montebello

MONTEBELLO (KABC) -- A 70-year-old man was killed early Friday morning when a truck that was towing his semitrailer ran over him on the side of the 60 Freeway in Montebello, authorities said.

The incident occurred as Stephen Lamb was examining the underside of his big rig about 1 a.m. on the westbound side of the highway, just east of Findlay Avenue, the California Highway Patrol said in a statement.

Lamb, a resident of Riverside County, was pronounced dead at the scene.

According to the CHP, the driver of the heavy-duty tow truck had pulled over onto the right shoulder due to "possible brake problems with the vehicle in tow."

After both Lamb and the tow truck driver initially exited the 2014 Peterbilt, the tow truck driver returned to his vehicle to move it forward.

Lamb then "crawled under the rear axle of the vehicle in tow, without advising" the other driver," the news release said, adding that Lamb was then "struck by the rear wheels of the vehicle in tow."

Neither alcohol nor drugs were believed to be a factor, investigators said.

City News Service contributed to this report.