Driver dies after boat slides off trailer, hits car on California highway, cops say
A 49-year-old woman died after a boat broke free from its trailer and slammed into her car on a California highway, authorities told news outlets.
Jennifer Kathleen Nichols was driving with her husband, interim San Diego Harbor Police Chief Kirk Nichols, on Feb. 5 in Jamul, about 20 miles east of San Diego, KNSD reported.
A boat detached from a 2000 Mazda truck after the driver made a turn onto the State Route 94, the news outlet reported.
The incident happened around 6:20 p.m., The San Diego Union-Tribune reported.
“The boat came off the trailer and then the trailer detached from the truck,” California Highway Patrol spokesperson Travis Garrow told the news outlet.
Kirk Nichols suffered minor injuries from the crash that killed his wife, the City News Servicereported.
The 29-year-old driver who was towing the boat was not injured, and he was arrested on vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence, according to the news outlet.
“The Port of San Diego extends our heartfelt condolences to Chief Nichols and his family and friends as they begin to process their tragic and sudden loss,” Port of San Diego President and CEO Joe Stuyvesant said in a statement. “They have our full support and are in our thoughts and prayers at this unimaginably difficult time. The Nichols family requests privacy as they grieve.”
This story was originally published February 8, 2022 at 1:36 PM with the headline "Driver dies after boat slides off trailer, hits car on California highway, cops say."
