An 88-year-old man died after getting wedged between his driver’s side door and his vehicle while paying for parking at the Irvine Spectrum Center.
The situation was reported to the Irvine Police Department at 3:30 p.m. Thursday, according to Irvine police Sgt. Karie Davies. It occurred at the parking structure exit at 100 Spectrum Center Drive.
Arriving officers found the man wedged between the partially open driver’s side door and his Mazda SUV, Davies said. A good Samaritan was trying to help him.
“Based on witness statements and video obtained at the scene, the driver approached the security exit gate and stopped to pay,” she said. ” It appears the driver did not place his Mazda SUV into the park gear, because the vehicle began to move forward when the driver was outside the car.
“The open driver’s door made contact with parking equipment, causing the driver’s door to close on the man,” Davies said. “He became trapped between the door and the vehicle and could not free himself.”
Police officers and Orange County Fire Authority firefighters worked to save the man, who was taken by ambulance to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
He was identified as Laguna Woods resident Robert Ray Bell, Davies said.
The case remained under investigation by the Major Accident Investigation Team.
