Man Dies After Exiting Vehicle for ‘Unknown Reason’ and Getting Trapped in Self-Service Car Wash

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A man in Southern California died after getting pinned between his car and the machinery of a car wash.

The Escondido Police Department said in a statement that they received a call about an “unresponsive man inside of a self-service car wash” late Friday evening on the 2100 block of East Valley Parkway.

Upon their arrival, they found a “56-year-old man trapped between a 2014 Scion XB and a part of the car wash machinery, police said.

Their preliminary investigation “indicated that the man drove into the car wash and for an unknown reason, tried to exit his vehicle,” according to authorities.

“The vehicle then rolled forward, pinning the man between the car and the machinery,” they wrote, noting that it did not appear the car wash had been activated when the collision occurred.

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The accident took place around 11:45 p.m. local time at a 24-hour establishment where the progress of the wash is controlled by drivers, an Escondido officer told Fox affiliate KSWB-TV.

Before the man was discovered by another customer, the alarm at the car wash had been going off for up to 30 minutes, police told News Flash Media at the scene, per the outlet.

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Once at the scene, police were able to free the man, who has not been identified, Lt. Scott Walters told NBC News. He was then transported to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

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An investigation to try and determine why the man got out of his car and what led to him becoming trapped is ongoing, per NBC Los Angeles.