Detached U-Haul Trailer Strikes, Kills Pittsburgh Artist

Family, Friends Mourn Wood Sculptor

Posted: 9:39 pm EDT May 13, 2010Updated: 4:40 pm EDT May 14, 2010

PITTSBURGH -- Police in Pittsburgh said a trailer came loose from a passing pickup truck and struck an artist who was carving a wooden sculpture in the city's Larimer neighborhood.Authorities said John Metzler, 46, was using a chainsaw and wearing heavy ear protection when the small U-Haul trailer broke free from the passing truck along Washington Boulevard.Police said the truck hit a divot in the road and the trailer detached, hitting Metzler as he carved the sculpture Thursday night at his Urban Tree Forge studio in the East Liberty neighborhood.Metzler was taken to a Pittsburgh hospital, where he later died from his injuries.Police questioned the driver, but did not file charges.

They are still investigating the cause of the accident and are trying to determine if the trailer was properly attached to the truck.Metzler’s father, Fred Metzler, said his son started Urban Tree Forge two years ago.“It was his life,” Fred Metzler said Friday. “He loved nature. He loved trees. He loved just being. He loved life and, I guess, most of all, he loved his friends.”On Friday, friends and co-workers gathered at the workshop to pay tribute to John Metzler. They placed flowers in front of the workshop and hung a T-shirt by the front door.

“We have employees and he had a lot of friends and a lot of customers that were in the midst of dealing with him," Fred Metzler said.“He was a personal friend,” said Jim Fowkes. “He was a real great guy, always there when you needed him.”

Boy, 13, was moving with mother to Oregon, relative says

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Crash victim identified

Boy, 13, was moving with mother to Oregon, relative says

By Jessica Selva
Signal Staff Writer
jselva@the-signal.com
661-259-1234 x518
Posted: Oct. 1, 2009 10:04 p.m.
POSTED Oct. 2, 2009 4:55 a.m.
Authorities on Thursday identified a 13-year-old boy who died in a crash on northbound Interstate 5 in Newhall.

Kristopher Raymond Kelly died in the Wednesday collision just south of Calgrove Boulevard, said John Kades of the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office.

Kelly and his grandfather, Phil Logan Kelly, 68, were from Myrtle Point, Ore., according to the CHP report. However, a relative said Kristopher was in the process of moving with his family to Oregon from the Valencia area.

Kristopher was the passenger in a U-Haul truck his grandfather was driving when the truck crashed into an unoccupied vehicle parked on the right shoulder that had been involved in a previous, unrelated crash Wednesday afternoon, the report said.

California Highway Patrol officers were investigating the case to determine the cause of the fatal collision, said Officer John Lutz.

The investigation could take about eight days, he said.

A cousin of the boy's grandfather who lives in Coos Bay, Ore., described Phil Kelly as an "extremely kind man."

"He had gone down to California to pick up his daughter and her children," said Laurie Livermore, who added that the man's daughter was moving from the Valencia area to Coos Bay where she had just landed a job.

Livermore said Kelly's daughter and another child were following the U-Haul and arrived quickly at the crash site where her son was killed.

"It's so likely (Phil Kelly) was pulling over to help the people in the (prior) accident and wasn't aware of the weight of the truck," Livermore said, speculating about the cause of the crash.

About 2 p.m. on Wednesday, the U-Haul was fully loaded and pulling a trailer carrying a passenger vehicle.

Witnesses said the truck was traveling at speeds of 65 to 70 mph, according to the report.

Meanwhile, just south of the Calgrove Boulevard exit, a two-axle box van and another vehicle had parked on the right shoulder of the freeway after an unrelated collision that resulted in no injuries.

For unknown reasons, the boy's grandfather crossed onto the right shoulder where the van was parked, the report said.

He swerved to the left to avoid hitting the parked vehicle, but slammed into the left rear of the van, sending it spinning 180 degrees, according to the report.

The impact sent the van's cargo flying through its destroyed side wall.

The U-Haul stopped when it hit a guardrail on the right shoulder, the report said.

The 13-year-old was pronounced dead at the scene at 2:23 p.m., Kades said.

The grandfather was transported to the Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening.

CHP officials did not suspect drugs or alcohol were factors in the crash.

U Haul 13-year-old boy who died earlier this week in crash on Interstate 5 in Newhall.

By Jessica Selva
Signal Staff Writer
jselva@the-signal.com
661-259-1234 x518
Posted: Sept. 30, 2009 10:14 p.m.
POSTED Oct. 1, 2009 5:36 p.m.

UPDATE:

Authorities on Thursday identified the 13-year-old boy who died earlier this week in crash on Interstate 5 in Newhall.

Kristopher Raymond Kelly died in the Wednesday crash on the northbound I-5 just south of Calgrove Boulevard, John Kades of the Los Angeles County Office of Coroner.

Kelly and his grandfather, Phil Logan Kelly, 68, were from Myrtle Point, Ore., according to the CHP report. However, a relative said Kristopher was in the process of moving with his family to Oregon from the Valencia area.

Kristopher was the passenger in a U-Haul truck his grandfather was driving when the truck crashed into an unoccupied vehicle parked on the right shoulder that had been involved in a previous, unrelated crash Wednesday afternoon, the report said.

California Highway Patrol officers were investigating the case to determine the cause of the fatal collision, said Officer John Lutz.

The investigation could take about eight days, he said.

A cousin of the boy's grandfather who lives in Coos Bay, Ore., described Phil Kelly as an "extremely kind man."

"He had gone down to California to pick up his daughter and her children," said Laurie Liverpool, who added that the man's daughter was moving from the Valencia area to Coos Bay where she had just landed a job.

Livermore said Kelly's daughter and another child were following the U-Haul and arrived quickly at the crash site where her son was killed.

"It's so likely (Phil Kelly) was pulling over the help the people in the (prior) accident and wasn't aware of the weight of the truck," Livermore said, speculating about the cause of the crash.

+++++++++++++++++++

Original story:
A 13-year-old boy died and another person was injured Wednesday afternoon when a moving truck crashed into another vehicle parked on the right shoulder of Interstate 5 near Newhall, authorities said.

The death was the second in two days on the I-5 in and around the SCV. A man died Tuesday when he was struck by a wheel that flew off of a passing vehicle.

About 2 p.m. Wednesday, the boy was a passenger in a U-Haul truck headed northbound through the Newhall Pass. His grandfather was the driver, said California Highway Patrol Sgt. Rick Miler.

Meanwhile, just south of the Calgrove Boulevard exit, a two-axle box truck and another vehicle had parked on the right shoulder of the freeway after an unrelated collision that resulted in no injuries.

Somehow, the boy's grandfather veered off of the road and slammed into the parked box truck, Miler said.

Los Angeles County Fire Department paramedics arrived about eight minutes later and pronounced the boy dead at the scene, said dispatch supervisor Art Marrujo.

One other person was transported to a local hospital, he said. The victim's identity and condition were not known.

CHP officers shut down the third and fourth lanes after the crash, Miler said.

The details of the collision were still under investigation, he added.

The crash came just a day after another fatality on the I-5.

On Tuesday at 11:38 a.m., John Magee, 66, of Sherman Oaks was hit by the tire of another vehicle as he stood by his truck on the right shoulder, CHP Officer John Lutz said.

Magee had stopped his 1970 Chevy pick-up truck on the right shoulder of the northbound freeway, south of Osito Canyon, to fix a flat tire.

He then walked to the driver's door momentarily to place something in the vehicle when a tire flew off of a trailer pulled by a passing SUV and hit Magee, Lutz said.

Magee was transported to Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital, where he died at 2:18 p.m. due to injuries, Lutz said.

Video Three of U Haul Tire Fly's Off

Vide Two U Haul Tire Fly's Off

Video One U Haul Tire Fly's Off

Tire smashes into tractor trailer windshield on 401... From U Haul Trailer

A transport truck with a U-Haul tire embedded in its window sits at the side of Highway 401 at Yonge, Friday, June 19, 2009.


Guy Orphanos remembers wondering where the tire was going to go as he talks to CTV Toronto on Friday, June 19, 2009.



The tire is seen wedged against the steering wheel inside the cab of the truck on Friday, June 19, 2009.

Tire smashes into tractor trailer windshield on 401

Updated: Fri Jun. 19 2009 7:35:06 PM

ctvtoronto.ca

A Montreal man is lucky to be alive after a tire smashed through the windshield of his tractor trailer on the westbound Highway 401, near Toronto's Yonge Street on Friday morning.

OPP Sgt. Dave Woodford said the tire struck the driver's side at about 10:30 a.m.

"It's embedded in the windshield," he said.

Guy Orphanos, the 47-year-old driver of the tractor trailer, was not seriously injured. But when he spoke to CTV Toronto, dried blood covered the lower portion of his face. He suffered multiple minor cuts from the flying glass.

"I was coming westbound and I saw the wheel . . . bouncing and it went in my window," Orphanos, who is from Montreal, said. "I was thinking, where is it going to go?"

He said it was fortunate the tire crashed into his big-rig -- which was travelling about 100 kilometres an hour -- rather than a small car with children.

Orphanos said his air-bag didn't release and the steering wheel saved him from the tire's impact.

"I was lucky," he said.

The wheel broke off a four-wheeled U-Haul trailer being towed by a car. The trailer, missing its front right wheel, was impounded by police.

The OPP said it is the first incident involving a U-Haul trailer in two years.

The damaged tractor trailer was also towed to an OPP station in Toronto.

With a report from CTV Toronto's Jim Junkin