Man Dies When Thrown From Pickup

A 20-year-old Los Angeles man was killed early Saturday when he was thrown from the bed of a pickup his brother was driving on southbound Interstate 5 near the Carmel Valley Road exit in Del Mar, authorities said.

Dead at the scene was Jose Rodriguez, one of four passengers riding in the bed of the pickup driven by Juan Rodriguez, who was taking a group of friends to Mexico, according to deputy coroner Everett Mauger.

Rodriguez’s pickup hit a “stalled or damaged pickup in the far left lane about 1:30 a.m.,” Mauger’s report said. “It then swerved across several lanes of traffic, ejecting passengers from the bed of the pickup” before stopping.

The driver was uninjured, as were two of the other three passengers. One passenger suffered moderate injuries. All were taken to Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla, Mauger said, but none of their names were released.

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