Infant Forces Open Hatch in Truck, Falls to Death

Despite his father’s efforts to tape shut the hatch of a sleeping compartment of a big rig, a 2-year-old boy apparently forced it open and fell to his death on the Golden State Freeway in Boyle Heights, the California Highway Patrol said Friday.

Brandon Russ of Folsom was killed instantly when he hit the pavement, but was probably hit subsequently by several other vehicles, CHP officers said.

His father, whose identity was not released, did not realize the toddler was missing until he had traveled another 10 miles. He called the CHP from a freeway call box in Norwalk, and officers later found the body on a freeway center divider on an overpass over the San Bernardino Freeway.

CHP officer Steve Ellis said no charges would be filed against the trucker because state safety seat regulations do not apply to big rigs. Ellis said the father was an experienced trucker.