Sean Merriman, 32, was a former city public works department
employee
Gilroy – A Gilroy resident and former city employee was killed Tuesday afternoon while patching a rain-soaked highway in his new job with Caltrans.
Sean Merriman, 32, was pinned between two Caltrans vehicles after a flat-bed tow truck collided with one of them near Hellyer Avenue in south San Jose.
Merriman was part of a three-man crew filling potholes along the northbound lane of the highway. He was shoveling asphalt from a dump truck when the accident occurred, according to Caltrans spokeswoman Lauren Wonder.
She said work crews had taken all appropriate safety precautions prior to the accident, which occurred shortly after 1pm. As part of standard procedure, the crew had parked a safety truck intended to protect workers from approaching vehicles. The tow truck was traveling at full speed when it hit the safety truck, pushing it forward and pinning Merriman against the dump truck.
The flat-bed tow truck was from Ponzini’s Community Garage in Morgan Hill. A phone attendant at the garage said the owner, Gary Ponzini, instructed her not to forward any media calls. Ponzini could not be reached for comment at his Morgan Hill home.
Merriman began working for Caltrans in January, after nearly five years as a part-time worker for Gilroy’s public works department. He played a wide range of roles in that department, maintaining the city’s parks, roads, sewers and streets, according to Gilroy Operations Manager Carla Ruigh.
“Sean was a very hard worker, very well liked by everyone in the city that he worked with,” Ruigh said. “This is going to hit the staff very hard. We were delighted to see him get a full-time job and move his career forward. Everybody was very excited and very proud about the accomplishments he made with us and as he moved on. This is very devastating for everyone that knew him.”
Merriman’s mother, Jacqui, was deeply involved in helping Gilroy’s homeless and poorest residents. She spent eight years as the food pantry coordinator for St. Joseph’s Family Center before retiring late last year.
Merriman began working outside the home after raising Sean and informally adopting many runaway children whom she welcomed into her home as an act of kindness.
“We cleaned them up and kept them until we found a safe place for them to be,” Merriman said in a recent interview.
On Tuesday, rumors about the loss of her son quickly spread through the city. Ruigh was among the first to learn about the accident.
“We’re going to miss him,” she said. “He was really a great guy and people were very fond of him. He was like a son or brother to a lot of people.”
