Sukhmander Gill of Livingston was killed on Thursday, May 5, when his big rig ran off of Highway 99 and then went out of control, smashing into a sound wall.
The Stanislaus County Coroner’s Office identified Gill as the driver of the big rig. Gill, 65, was driving a Freightliner north on 99 near Turlock just before 10 a.m. He veered onto the shoulder near Lander Avenue, crashed through the sound wall and a chain link fence, and hit three other vehicles. Officer Eric Parsons of the California Highway Patrol said that one of the vehicles, a Toyota Tundra, was occupied, and the driver received minor injuries. That driver was taken to Emmanuel Medical Center in Turlock, and Gill was declared dead at the scene.
The truck accident was a narrow miss for residents of a nearby apartment complex. The Avena Bella apartments are located just behind the Save Mart shopping center on Lander Avenue and very near the site of the crash. The big rig hit two carports belonging to the complex but missed the apartments themselves by 10 feet.
Officer Parsons said he didn’t know what made Gill drive onto the shoulder and into the sound wall. Investigators were at the scene still gathering information.
