The driver of an SUV that was hit by a construction worker who plunged 53 stories to his death last week in downtown Los Angeles spoke out publicly for the first time Wednesday.
Donna Crockett was driving past the site of the new Wilshire Grand Center when a man fell out of the sky and landed on the back of her vehicle.
Joseph Sabbatino, a 36-year-old resident of Palmdale, had only been working at the site two days when he fell from the under-construction skyscraper around noon on March 17.
His death was a suicide, the Los Angeles County coroner told the Los Angeles Times on Thursday.
Her voice shaking, Crockett described opening her door and seeing the victim’s boot lying on the ground right next to her.
The gruesome images haunt her.
“It’s really taken a toll on me, because right now, I’m not strong and right now I am hurting,” Crockett said. “It was traumatic, it something that I never thought I would have to see.”
Crockett told KTLA her heart goes out to Sabbatino’s family and his wife, who she hopes to one day give a hug.
KTLA’s Ashley Soley-Cerro contributed to this report.