Trapped Driver Among 4 Injured
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HUNTINGTON BEACH — Four people were injured Wednesday in a four-vehicle pileup that left one man trapped between a steering wheel and 1,500 pounds of scrap metal in the bed of his pickup, police said.
Daniel F. Degraw, 51, was being treated for severe chest trauma at UCI Medical Center in Orange, where he was listed in stable condition late Wednesday. Police said paramedics used a hydraulic prying device to free Degraw after the metal crashed into the cab.
Treated at area hospitals and released were Marvin J. Schmitt, 45, of Huntington Beach and Robyn Ciuki, 19, of Fountain Valley. A fourth driver, John P. Potter, 47, of Huntington Beach, suffered minor injuries but was not hospitalized.
Police said Degraw made a high-speed lane change about 6 p.m. on Yorktown Avenue near its intersection with Brookhurst Street. His truck hit a pickup driven by Potter, who was stopped and waiting to turn north on Brookhurst, police said.
The impact pushed Potter’s truck into a sport utility vehicle driven by Schmitt, which in turn struck Ciuki’s vehicle, Sgt. Steve Johnson said.
No one was cited, but an investigation continues, Johnson said.
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