Worker killed after large truck rolls on top of him

A Huntington Beach man was killed Wednesday when a truck he was working on rolled on top of him outside his Costa Mesa business, the county coroner said.

Alvin Gerk, 30, was found dead underneath a pickup truck outside of his business, AG Mobile, 833 W. 17th St., about 6:50 a.m. Wednesday. AG Mobile is a service company for industrial trucks, said officials from the state Division of Occupational Safety and Health.

Investigators said Gerk was underneath the truck trying to put the transmission in gear when it rolled on top of him, killing him. One man at the business who called Gerk a friend almost choked up when saying it was a preventable accident.

“It could have been as simple as applying the parking brake,” said Dean Fryer, a Cal/OSHA spokesman.

The Orange County Sheriff-Coroner’s office will investigate the incident, said Costa Mesa police officials.

— Joseph Serna