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Off-Duty Cop Killed After Big-Rig Slams Into Stopped Traffic In Modesto

MODESTO (CBS/AP) -- An off-duty police officer is dead and a state highway worker was hospitalized after a big-rig slammed into stopped traffic on a Central California highway.

Road work was being done Wednesday afternoon on State Route 132, limiting traffic to just one lane. A flagman was being used so east and west vehicles could take turns using the one lane.

The flagman, California Department of Transportation worker Brian Smith, had signaled eastbound traffic to stop just before the crash.

A Nissan and Honda were stopped when the big-rig struck the Honda, killing the off-duty Oakdale officer on impact and sending the Nissan into the 51-year-old Caltrans worker.

The Modesto Bee said the name of the officer was being withheld because relatives were still being contacted.

Smith was hospitalized.

(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

 

 

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