SAN ANTONIO – San Antonio police are trying to determine what caused a driver in a pickup truck to slam into the back of an 18-wheeler parked on the shoulder of a Northeast Side highway.
The crash happened shortly after 2 a.m. Thursday along southbound Interstate 35, just south of Walzem Road.
Police say the driver of the big rig had pulled over on the highway after noticing some of the tires on his trailer were flat.
For some reason, they say, the driver of a pickup plowed into the back of the 18-wheeler.
The pickup became lodged under the back of the big rig, trapping the pickup driver.
Firefighters had to use the jaws of life to free the 23-year-old man from the wreckage.
Police say he suffered internal injuries and was rushed to a hospital where he underwent emergency surgery.
The big rig driver was not hurt.
Police shut down the outer lanes of the southbound highway for about three hours, while they investigated and cleared the scene.
That led to a traffic backup that slowed the morning commute to a crawl.