Orange Garbage truck
One man died in a crash involving a garbage truck and a Toyota Prius on Ortega Highway on Wednesday, April 19, authorities said.
Firefighters were called to the highway at about 4:40 p.m., about five miles east of the 5 freeway, where they found the two damaged vehicles over the side of the road, said Orange County Fire Authority Capt. Larry Kurtz.
Shortly after firefighters arrived at the crash site, east of San Juan Capistrano, a 69-year-old man in the 2006 Prius was pronounced dead. Kurtz said the victim had to be extricated from the damaged car.
He was identified Thursday as Mike Madigan of Lake Forest. The 49-year-old driver of the truck had minor bruising and some pain.
California Highway Patrol investigators said Thursday that for some reason Madigan crossed over the double yellow line into oncoming traffic before hitting the truck. Neither drugs nor alcohol are believed to have factored into the crash.
