Tow truck driver fatally struck on New Year's Eve on SR-125 in Spring Valley

A tow truck driver was struck and killed Sunday night while outside his truck, trying to move another vehicle off state Route 125 in the Spring Valley area.

Dale Alan Pumphrey, a 63-year-old El Cajon resident, died at the scene of the New Year’s Eve crash, which happened about 8 p.m. on south SR-125 near the Jamacha Road exit, according to the California Highway Patrol and San Diego County Medical Examiner’s Office.

Pumphrey was trying to remove a vehicle that was stranded on the freeway when he went around the driver’s side of his two truck and stepped partially into the far-right lane where the driver of a Toyota Prius struck him, according to the Medical Examiner’s Office.

Despite the efforts of emergency crews, Pumphrey died before he could be taken to a hospital, according to the Medical Examiner and a CHP incident log.

Information about the driver of the Prius was not immediately available Monday.

Update: SB SR-125 north of Jamacha Rd, two right lanes blocked due to a collision.

— Caltrans San Diego (@SDCaltrans) January 1, 2024

The crash shut down several lanes of SR-125 for more than two hours.

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