CLEVELAND — A Lorain woman is sharing her story of survival after a dump truck flipped onto her car as it made a turn, and she was stopped at a red light.
Luz De Leon said she was heading to a doctor's appointment.
She's banged up but thankful to be alive following Monday's accident near Opportunity Corridor and Kinsman Rd.
"I feel like God was working at that point," she said. "I saw the back start to flip over, and then a second later it was physically just on me… on the car."
The Hyundai she was driving was crushed by a dump truck the Ohio State Highway Patrol said was carrying an "unsecured load" of metal coils that shifted while the truck was making a left turn from Opportunity Corridor onto Kinsman Rd., causing the truck to overturn.
Luz said she ducked for cover and stretched her body across the passenger seat.
"That's what saved me," she said.
Luz managed to crawl out of the car before firefighters or police arrived.
"I didn't want it to crush down on me or anything," she said. "So my first like reaction was- get out of the car."
She said the first call she made was to her father.
The Ohio State Highway Patrol said the dump truck belongs to B & B Wrecking & Excavating, INC. in Cleveland.
An examination report prepared by the highway patrol revealed several violations, including inoperable brake lamps, improper securement system and inadequate brakes for stopping.
"Did you have any words with that driver of the truck at the scene there?" I asked Luz.
She responded, "He was like, 'I'm so glad that you're alive' and we hugged."
The highway patrol report said Cleveland Police cited the company's driver for failure to control the load and having an unsecured load. The report said the dump truck was placed out of service due to violations.
"I hope that you know that they'd never do it again," Luz said. "Because, although I didn't lose my life, somebody else could lose their life."
I called B & B Wrecking & Excavating, INC. Wednesday afternoon to ask about the incident. An employee who answered the phone took down my information and said they would work on getting someone to call me back.
Meanwhile, Luz has been back on the road since the accident. She admits it's been a little nerve-wracking.
"Just being next to trucks has given me like a lot of anxiety," she said. "Like I almost started crying when I first got next to a truck."
Her car is totaled, and she's trying to figure out how to get it replaced. Tuesday, she was able to retrieve a few items from the trunk.
"Seeing it without the truck on it- it was like wow!" Luz said.
She's taking nothing for granted.
"I'm glad to be alive, and I'm glad to be here and be with my family," she said.
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration records show B & B Wrecking & Excavating, INC. has had about two dozen violations in the last two years.
In 2022, violations included having loose or unfastened tie down, failing to secure load and rear of container not properly secured.
Also, in 2022, the company was involved in two crashes.
One of the crashes involved one fatality and two people being injured. According to records, the company's driver was not cited.
Thursday afternoon, B & B Wrecking & Excavating, INC. issued the following statement to News 5.
First of all, we want to apologize to the young lady for having to be involved in this. At the same time, we are very grateful that she does not appear to have any injuries, nor was does anyone else, including our driver. We reached out to her though Facebook to apologize and assure her that we will make sure she is treated fairly with regards to the damage to her vehicle and any short-term vehicle rental. As far as the truck violations, upon our initial review it appears that the majority were due to the fact that the vehicle was not operational after the accident and as a result some of the systems were not functional, such as anything operating on air pressure. We are a family-owned company that has been doing work in the area since 1957 and we pride ourselves on being safe and doing the right things with regards to our employees, our customers and the general public. Again, we are all happy that no one was injured and that it was only property that was damaged. Thank you for the opportunity to respond to the story on this unfortunate situation.
The company said it could not comment about the the citations its driver received from Cleveland Police for failure to control the load and having an unsecured load.
