A long time Commerce postal carrier is struck, killed

A 30-year veteran mail carrier with the U.S. Postal Service, who also served as pastor at a church in La Mirada, was struck and killed by a motorist in Commerce on Dec. 3.

According to a spokesperson with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, the 58-year-old man had been standing nearby his postal truck along 2100 South Atlantic Boulevard shortly before 10 a.m. It’s then that a motorist suddenly slammed into him. The driver then crashed into the man’s work vehicle, pushing it into an adjacent business’ wall.

Although the postal worker was still alive by the time paramedics arrived at the crash scene, he died shortly thereafter. Another person that had been working inside of the business that the postal truck struck was also injured in the crash. They were transported to an area hospital with undisclosed injuries.

One of the officers who responded to the scene performed a field sobriety test on the motorist that is alleged to have caused the crash. He apparently passed it. He also provided a blood sample that has been sent off to a California toxicology lab for testing.

A police spokesperson notes that they don’t believe that he was under the influence of drugs or alcohol during the crash. They later released him to go home without pressing any charges.

On a crowdfunding site that the family created to help defray the cost of funeral expenses, they wrote that he wasn’t even supposed to have worked on the fateful day that he died. They noted that he’d simply agreed to take on the extra shift in hopes of making a few extra dollars to cover holiday expenses. They also described him as a devoted Los Angeles Dodger’s fan.

He’s survived by his widow, a daughter, four sons and multiple grandchildren.

His family hinted on that same webpage that speeding and other types of reckless driving may have resulted in the crash.

Laws exist on the books in California that require virtually every employer to carry workers’ compensation insurance to help cover medical costs, funeral expenses, lost wages and other expenses if an employee is hurt or killed on the job. Insurance companies often delay decisions on these claims or altogether deny them. This is why it’s important for you to have an attorney to fight for you.