Man Tries to Stop Car Before Deadly Fall Off Bridge: Deputies

A man traveling the wrong way on State Route 52 tried to stop before driving off the road and into a canyon to his death, San Diego County Sheriff’s deputies said.

A department investigation found that the driver tried to stop, leaving a long skid mark before plunging off the highway.

Just after midnight, authorities learned of a black Mercedes Benz C230 driving east in the westbound lanes of SR-52 between Mast Boulevard and Santos Road.

California Highway Patrol officers and firefighters responded to the scene but could not locate the Mercedes.

With the help of a San Diego police helicopter, authorities found the car about an hour later in the canyon about 200 feet below a bridge.

An investigation of the road shows the driver, a 66-year-old San Diego man, was driving on the shoulder when he went over the edge of the median about a mile west of Mast Boulevard.

A 100-foot skid mark leading up to the edge shows the man hit the brakes just before the fall, police said.

Firefighters and the medical examiner have retrieved the driver's body.

Authorities have not released any information on the cause of the crash.

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