Trucker Named TCA Highway Angel for

Assisting After Fatal Hit and Run Accident

November 18th, 2024

ALEXANDRIA, VA—The Truckload Carriers Association (TCA) has named truck driver Brian Manzo, from Anaheim, CA, a TCA Highway Angel for assisting an injured woman and man after a hit and run accident. Manzo works for ABF Freight out of Ft. Smith, AR.

It’s a story of kindness and bravery: On November 12, 2024 around 6 p.m. in Santa Ana, CA, Manzo was traveling northbound on Grand Avenue in the dark when he  saw two pedestrians—a male and a female—lying in the middle of the six-lane road in the southbound lanes. The pedestrians had been struck by a dark sedan traveling southbound, which Manzo saw traveling at a high rate of speed with the driver’s side headlight broken and smoke coming from the vehicle. He looked at the injured man on the road.

“The guy was lying in the middle of the road; he’s not responsive,” Manzo said. “I’m looking at this guy, and I watch two cars hit him.”

Manzo said the accident victims appeared to be transients, and he believes they were together. No one else got out of their car to help the victims. He stopped in the middle lane, turned on his flashers and began honking his horn to bring attention to the situation.

“Two cars hit this guy so I immediately get on my horn and immediately cars start stopping,” he said. “I look up the road and I see a lady lying there also.”

Manzo called 911 and approached the female victim, who was conscious, and told her to stay still because she had been involved in an accident.

“She had blood all over her face and she was disoriented,” he said. She stood up and ran across the street to get out of traffic. Manzo stayed on the phone with 911 until he could hear the police sirens before he left the scene.

A police officer called him a few days later and confirmed that the male pedestrian died, and that the driver of the car that hit the man and woman eventually did stop and contact police.

Since the TCA Highway Angel program’s inception in August 1997, nearly 1,400 professional truck drivers have been recognized as TCA Highway Angels for exemplary kindness, courtesy, and courage displayed while on the job. Thanks to the program’s presenting sponsor, EpicVue, and supporting sponsors, DriverFacts and Northland Insurance, TCA is able to showcase outstanding drivers like Mr. Manzo.

The TCA Highway Angel website can be accessed at https://www.truckload.org/highway-angel/.