Woman, 71, dies after her car rolls onto her in Fort Worth driveway, police say
A 71-year-old Fort Worth woman mistakenly had her car in reverse on Thursday morning when she stopped at the end of her driveway to unload a bag of trash, causing the car to roll onto her and kill her, according to authorities.
Linda Ireene Santoyo was identified by the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office. She died around 7:20 a.m. Thursday of mechanical asphyxia, the medical examiner reported. That cause of death refers to a force or pressure blocking a person’s ability to breathe.
The death was the result of being overrun by the vehicle, the medical examiner concluded.
Police believe Santoyo drove to the end of her driveway in the 7500 block of John T. White Road on Thursday morning to put a bag of trash into a bin, spokesman Officer Jimmy Pollozani said in an email. After she stopped, unaware her car was still in reverse, Pollozani said she opened the driver’s side door and stepped out with her left foot, her right foot still inside the car.
Santoyo lost her balance and fell over as the car began to move backward, he said. She became pinned between the car and the ground.
Responding officers pronounced her dead, Pollozani said.
He said traffic investigators are looking into the incident.
