Big-Rig Driver Leaves Trailer Behind After Slamming Into Duarte Apartment Building

DUARTE (CBSLA) – The driver of a big-rig left an important component behind, his trailer, after he crashed into a Duarte apartment building and then sped away in only the cab.

The crash occurred at around 12:20 a.m. in the 2500 block of Huntington Drive.

The trailer of a semi-truck became detached when the driver lost control and crashed into a parked vehicle, a tree and then an apartment complex, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department reports.

The driver left behind a trail of debris at the complex, damaging a wall and destroying a garage door. He also lost the windshield of his cab.

Instead of stopping at the scene, however, the driver sped eastbound on Huntington Drive, leaving the trailer behind. There were no reported injuries.

Even the big rig's front windshield was left behind - one witness told CBSLA's Amy Johnson he saw the driver hanging out of the window.

"I look out the window and I just see a huge truck like basically barricade into the house...it just drove off," witness Waheed Karim said. "It basically was struggling really hard to get out, and then it left its trailer behind and just drove off."

There was no immediate description of the cab or the driver. The incident has been ruled a hit-and-run.

No injuries were reported.