By Mary O’KEEFE

About 1 p.m. Monday, a man, 55, from Pasadena was struck by a pick up truck after exiting his parked vehicle.

The man had parked his car on the south side of Foothill Boulevard in front of the Olive Branch restaurant in the 3600 block of Foothill Boulevard. He and his passenger were planning on
going to lunch at the restaurant.

“I was stepping out of the car [on the passenger side]. I closed the door and suddenly I heard the noise [of him being hit],” said the friend. “It happened very fast.”

It appeared the man had already stepped out of the car and closed the door when a small truck driven by an elderly man hit him.

“We saw [the driver of the truck] coming down the street, hit [the man] and he was up in the air, then back down,” said a witness who was in the restaurant at the time of the accident.

The victim was apparently trapped between his vehicle and the pickup until he was thrown, landing in front of the victim’s car, said Lt. Ian Grimes, Glendale Police Department.

The driver of the truck missed hitting another vehicle that was parked in front of the victim’s car but side swiped an SUV that was two cars away from the victim’s.

The victim was transported to Huntington Hospital with serious injuries.

“He was conscious the entire time he was being treated [on the boulevard],” Grimes said.

The driver of the pick up truck had burns on his arm that appeared to be from an airbag. He was transported to a nearby hospital.

Foothill Boulevard was closed with eastbound traffic diverted south and north around the accident scene. The incident is under investigation.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Glendale Police at (818) 548-4840.

  Foothill Boulevard, man struck