Man dead after being hit by truck

Police are investigating the death of a 25-year-old Newport Beach man who was hit by a truck in Santa Ana Heights early Tuesday.

Robert Jay Shenk died of his injuries after he was struck by a delivery truck at 4 a.m. at Birch Street and Orchard Drive in Newport Beach, Sgt. Bill Hartford said.

The driver of the Ford F-350 truck, Zaven Lustaryan, 54, was questioned by police and released. He was not cited, and police said alcohol did not appear to be a factor in the accident.

Lustaryan, of Tustin, was making a delivery when Shenk walked in front of the truck. Shenk was found in the road close to the median and was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics, Hartford said.

Police aren’t sure what Shenk was doing in the area when he was hit. Shenk had been previously arrested for public drunkenness in Newport Beach, Hartford said.