TOW TRUCK DRIVER KILLED BY VEHICLE NEW YEAR’S EVE

By Miriam Raftery

January 2, 2024 (El Cajon) – Tow truck driver Dale Alan Pumphrey, 63, of El Cajon was struck and  killed on New Year’s Eve while working to remove a stranded vehicle on State Route 125 north of Jamacha Road.

Pumphrey was the owner of DAP & Sons Towing, according to his son, Nicholas Ordille, who has set up a fundraiser at GoFundMe to help Pumphrey’s wife, Shelley. According to the post, Pumphrey was the sole provider for his family; his widow is a cancer survivor currently in the hospital to have a toe removed due to complications of diabetes.

“My dad was one that really put everything he had into his family, “ his son says.”He would give you the last couple dollars he had, shirt off his back, couch to sleep on when needed. .. He is My Hero and role model that was taken from us too soon.”

Pumphrey was securing a gold Toyota Camry onto a flatbed tow truck when he was struck by a Prius sedan after it hit his tow truck.  First responders attempted resuscitation but were unable to revive Pumphrey, who was pronounced dead at the scene.

The California Highway Patrol reports that drugs or alcohol are not believed to be factors in the crash.  The Toyota Prius driver was not injured.