Coachella truck driver falls asleep at the wheel; crashes into another truck

The driver of a pickup truck was injured Wednesday when he fell asleep at the wheel and his truck rear-ended a larger truck in Coachella, a sheriff’s lieutenant said.

The crash on the northbound Highway 86S expressway at Avenue 52 was reported around 4:50 a.m. The man, whose name was not released, was driving his Toyota Tacoma northbound when it crashed into the back of a large commercial truck that was stopped at a red light, said sheriff’s Lt. Matthew Martello.

“The driver of the Toyota told officers he had fallen asleep while driving,” Martello said.

The man was transported to Desert Regional Medical Center with minor injuries. The driver of the large truck was not injured.

The expressway was closed briefly until the Toyota was towed, Martello said.