Food truck fatally pins man trying to help direct driver, Tennessee cops say

A 48-year-old man died after being struck by a food truck in a parking lot, Tennessee police said.

Favian Ubense Cruz-Varga stood between the food truck and a building on Friday, Oct. 11, guiding the driver to make sure he didn’t hit the building, the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department said in an Oct. 14 news release.

Then the driver, 42-year-old Omar Martinez-Gonzalez, backed into him “due to apparent operator inexperience,” police said.

The collision seriously injured Cruz-Varga and left him trapped between the truck and the building, police said. He was later taken to Skyline Medical Center where he died, officers said.

Martinez-Gonzalez was arrested and charged with operating the truck without a valid driver’s license or proof of insurance, police said.

Natalie Demaree

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Natalie Demaree is a service journalism reporter covering Mississippi for McClatchy Media. She holds a master’s in journalism from Columbia Journalism School and a bachelor’s in journalism and political science with a specialization in African and African American Studies from the University of Arkansas.