Tower Down - 11.03.21 (OR) "Updated 07.11.23"

[TowNews]

Tow truck driver killed after crash on Interstate 5

A Roseburg man is dead after he and his tow truck were struck by a commercial vehicle that reportedly failed to move over.

 

ROSEBURG, Ore. – A tow truck driver is dead after being struck while recovering a vehicle on Interstate 5 on Wednesday.

 

Oregon State Police said it happened just before 11 p.m. at milepost 126 in the Roseburg area.

 

Walt’s Tow Company employee Henry Alan Lichtwald, 63, of Roseburg died at the scene after being hit by a commercial motor vehicle headed south. Police said the driver, 54-year-old Jagraj Singh Sidhu of Canada, failed to move over to make room for the tow truck.

 

Sidhu reportedly immediately pulled over after hitting the truck and Lichtwald and cooperated with the investigation.

I-5 was closed for more than an hour and was later restricted to one lane for several more hours as officials worked to clear the vehicles.

 

The Oregon Department of Transportation, Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, Roseburg Police Department, and Roseburg Fire and Fire District 2 assisted state police.

 

Police said the investigation is ongoing.

 

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[TowNews]

Tow truck driver recovering vehicle on I-5 killed in crash

 

A Roseburg tow truck driver was killed Thursday night while working on Interstate 5, according to state police.

 

Just before 11 p.m. Henry Alan Lichtwald, 63, of Roseburg, an employee of Walt’s Tow Company, was responding to a crash on the highway. While attempting to clear an earlier crash on the southbound lanes of the freeway near milepost 126, a commercial motor vehicle collided with Lichtwald and his tow truck. Lichtwald died at the scene.

 

The driver of the tractor-trailer, Jagraj Singh Sidhu, 54, of Abbotsford, British Columbia, immediately pulled over and cooperated with the investigation, according to police.

 

The freeway was closed for a little more than an hour and later was restricted to one lane for another three to four hours to clear the scene and investigate the crash.

 

The Oregon State Police was assisted by Bill’s Towing, A&S Towing, the Oregon Department of Transportation, Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, Roseburg Police Department, Roseburg Fire Department and Douglas County Fire District No. 2.

 

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[TowForce]

Man charged with criminally negligent homicide in death of tow truck driver

 

A 56-year-old man was charged with criminally negligent homicide in the death of Henry Lichtwald.

 

Lichtwald was a tow truck operator for Walt’s Towing who was struck by a commercial vehicle while clearing a disabled vehicle on the side of Interstate 5 in November 2021.

 

According to Oregon State Police at the time, the driver of the semi-truck, Jagraj Singh Sidhu, immediately pulled over and cooperated with the investigation.

 

Sidhu, of British Columbia, Canada, was booked in the Douglas County Jail on June 28 and released the same day, after posting $2,000 bail. A status check in the case is scheduled for Sept. 27.

 

The indictment states that Sidhu’s negligence caused Lichtwald’s death and is “against the peace and dignity of the State of Oregon.”

 

Following Lichtwald’s death, tow truck drivers from around the state came together for a procession and to call for stronger measures to protect drivers, including Oregon’s “Move Over” law.

 

The Move Over law in Oregon requires that motorist move to a nonadjacent lane when approaching emergency vehicles, as well as any vehicle stopped and displaying hazard or warning lights — or when using flares or emergency signs.

 

In 2022 there were 51 emergency responders who died after being struck by a vehicle, 18 of those were tow operators, according to the Emergency Responder Safety Institute. In 2021, the year Lichtwald was struck, 22 tow operators died after being struck by a vehicle.

 

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