Man dies in Hope Valley accident

HOPE VALLEY - An unidentified man was impaled by a guard rail and killed early Sunday morning in a Highway 88 accident in Hope Valley, a California Highway Patrol dispatcher said.

The victim's identity or home town had not been established by late Sunday, but driver Alfonso Barragan, 28, of Stockton will likely be arrested on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter, the dispatcher in Truckee said.

Barragan was driving eastbound on Highway 88 just east of Pickett's Junction at 4:04 a.m. when his 1977 LTD went off the south edge of the roaway for unknown reasons, the dispatcher said.

She said the guard rail impaled the right side of the car then pierced into the passenger cabin. The victim was a passenger.

Barragan was apparently taken to Carson-Tahoe Hospital but the nursing supervisor said noone with that name was admitted.