Avondale man killed in rollover crash in west valley

BUCKEYE, Ariz. (KSAZ) - "We got here... there was nobody here, there were no officers."

Larry Pinkerman says it was just after 3:30 a.m. when he came across the accident along the eastbound lanes of I-10. Debris was scattered everywhere, a semi was jackknifed and a pickup truck was mangled in the median.

"I went by the pickup truck, there was already people there; checked on the driver, so I went to the semi, checked on the drivers," he said.

The semi drivers were hurt but not badly.

"All I saw was a pile of dust," said Pablo Vasquez, a truck driver.

Vasquez says the driver of the pickup truck wasn't as lucky.

"Three of us ran over to the pickup truck to help him out," he said. "He wasn't moving at all. Another driver checked his pulse, he was gone."

The Arizona Department of Public Safety says the driver of the pickup truck, 24-year-old Avondale resident Ricardo Vasquez-Vasquez was westbound on I-10 when his truck crossed over into the eastbound lanes and was struck by the semi.

Traffic was at a standstill.

"That's part of the truck-driving job," said Christopher Lee, a truck driver. "Be patient, you know."

Three-and-a-half hours after the deadly accident took place, the semi still stuck on I-10, started turning around.

"If I can't turn around, I'll have to back up all the way," Pinkerman said.

Just before 10 a.m., the semi involved in the accident was towed from the scene.

Investigators remained on the highway to piece together what happened.