A Eureka man who died when his delivery truck collided with an overturned tanker in Lake County, sending his truck plunging into the frigid waters of Blue Lakes, had driven his delivery route for 18 years when it ended in tragedy Wednesday morning.
Robert Lee Wagner, 45, was eastbound on Highway 20, about midway between Lake Mendocino and Clear Lake, when he rounded a curve just as the overturned milk tanker came sliding into his lane, the CHP said.
The impact drove his Reser's Fine Foods delivery truck off the south edge of the road, where it struck a large oak tree head-on, likely causing the injuries that killed Wagner, CHP Officer Kory Reynolds said.
The tree might have stopped the forward motion of the cab, but the momentum of the cargo area caused the rig to jackknife and slide farther down the embankment into the lake, he said.
Wagner was completely submerged by the water that rushed into the cab. It rose to the chest of his 15-year-old son, Mitchell, who was riding as a passenger with his father that morning.
The teen was pinned in the truck and submerged in water up to his chest for nearly 90 minutes with his lifeless father belted in next to him, while rescue workers and divers struggled to cut him free of the wreckage.
The younger Wagner, a student at McKinley High School in Humboldt County, was flown to UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento for treatment but had been released by Thursday morning, a hospital spokesman said.
The driver of the milk tanker, Donald Morton, 58, a Cotati resident, was also injured in the 5:55 a.m. crash. He remained in fair condition Thursday at UC Davis Medical Center.
Linda Stock, risk manager for Reser's Fine Foods, based in Beaverton, Ore., said Wagner delivered refrigerated and frozen foods from the company's Eureka warehouse. He was a valued employee known among those who mourned at the Reser's headquarters, she said.
"Our hearts, our thoughts, our prayers are going out to the family and friends and co-workers," Stock said. "We just are so very sad."
An autopsy is expected Monday to determine the cause of Wagner's death, Lake County Sheriff's Lt. Steve Brooks said.
You can reach Staff Writer Mary Callahan at 521-5249 or mary.callahan@pressdemocrat.com.
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