Man Crushed While Fixing Truck Dies

A 44-year-old Novato man when his broken-down truck rolled onto him has died, said Tuesday.

Novato police Lt. Keith Heiden said the Marin County Sheriff/Coroner's office was informed at 11:30 a.m. Monday that Joel Meono died at Marin General Hospital, 25 days after he was found pinned under his 1992 Ford pickup outside his residence at 84 Kelly Court in Hamilton.

Heiden said an autopsy would be performed to determine an official cause of death, but witnesses and paramedics found Meono with his shoulder and neck wedged under one of the truck's tires.

According to the police report, Meono was trying to figure out a problem with the truck's transmission when it trapped him underneath, Heiden said. The man's wife had heard a scream and went outside to find her husband on the pavement under the truck, Heiden said.

The investigation is ongoing as to how Meono became pinned under the truck because there were no witnesses, Heiden said.

crews were notified of the incident at 3:29 p.m. that day. Captain Steve White said the injured man was just a few blocks from the Hamilton station, which allowed the response to be about 2 minutes. He said paramedics, who found the injured man unconscious, asked another resident for a jack, and somebody quickly provided one from another truck.