Auto expert highlights need for safety after man crushed, killed by car during vehicle repair

The death of a man who was crushed by a car after a jack holding it up collapsed has some people focusing on safety.

San Antonio police say Jesus Colin Lucio, 33, was working on a vehicle in the driveway of a home on West Kings Highway near Interstate 10 on Wednesday night.

A preliminary report said a jack that was holding up the vehicle collapsed, causing the vehicle to land on him.

Colin Lucio died at the scene, one neighbor told KSAT 12 News on Thursday morning.

Hours later, the jack remained in the spot where it collapsed, near an SUV parked on the slanted driveway.

The police report referred to the incident as an “apparent sudden death,” and did not indicate that is being considered anything other than an accident.

Jesse Cepeda, who owns Auto Tech Repairs, Inc., a shop a few miles away from the home, called Colin Lucio’s death “unfortunate.”

He said accidents like this are not exactly uncommon and can happen to anyone, particularly when they don’t keep safety first.

“Every time you lift a vehicle, you have to know the safety behind it, especially because your life is going to be under the vehicle,” he said.

By “being safe,” he said he means taking precautions when using a car jack to lift a vehicle.

Cepeda said he always uses a backup method, such as a jack stand or even a tire, to keep the vehicle from falling down.

“I don’t care if the jack is new, you always care about your life, you know? So always put a jack stand under it,” he said.

Equally as important in preventing injuries, Cepeda said, is placing the jack in the correct position.

He said every vehicle has an area beneath it indicating where the jack should be placed.

“If you put it anywhere else, it will bend the (car) body,” Cepeda said.

Jack safety is a lesson Cepeda said he learned the hard way, through his own close call while working beneath a truck at his repair shop.

“I went under it and the frame was right on top of me and my guy was turning the wheel,” he said. “And the truck just went down.”

Fortunately, he was able to get help right away and was spared from any serious injuries.

Often, though, he said help arrives too late.

For that reason, he said the only remedy is to think about safety from the start.

More coverage of this story on KSAT:

• Man killed after car crushes him during a vehicle repair on the West Side, SAPD says