Lemoore man killed in four-vehicle pileup identified

A 46-year-old Lemoore man who died in a four-vehicle chain-reaction collision in western Kings County on Saturday has been identified.

Arthur Escandon Robles died in the crash on Highway 41 at Hanford Armona Road, the Kings County Coroner’s Office said.

Robles initially was reported to be a Huron resident.

Three drivers were southbound on the highway shortly before 8 a.m. waiting for the traffic light to turn green when big-rig driver Harpal Sandhu, 21, of Clovis, failed to slow for the backed-up traffic, the California Highway Patrol said. The big rig hit Robles’ pickup and pushed it and two vehicles in front of it to the southwest corner of the intersection, the CHP said.

One vehicle hit a support pole and another crashed into a signal light pole. The big rig’s engine, which wound up in the bed of the pickup, caught on fire. The fire spread to the other three vehicles.

Sandhu and two other drivers escaped the crash with minor injuries.

By Eddie Jimenez