John Friedas Joaquin, Jr., a school bus mechanic for San Diego Unified School District, was killed Thursday on Interstate-805, several miles northeast of downtown, by a motorist who lost control on the rain-soaked highway, the local medical examiner’s office released.
Joaquin, 32, had responded to a broken-down school bus on the southbound I-805 freeway at the El Cajon Blvd. underpass and was working on the bus engine when at approximately 6:55 a.m. local time the driver of a 2005 Nissan Altima lost control of her vehicle and struck the rear of the bus, pinning Joaquin in the engine compartment. The medical examiner stated that the highway was “saturated with water” as a storm passed through the area.
The report also states that responding paramedics found Joaquin alert and responsive with an open compound fracture of the left femur. He was transported to a local hospital, where Joaquin underwent surgery to amputate the left leg below the knee. Following surgery, he was admitted to the intensive care unit, where the medical examiner said his condition “rapidly declined.” Joaquin suffered cardio-respiratory arrest and he was pronounced dead at 12:56 p.m.
An autopsy was pending.
