79-year-old trying to stop his rolling truck is fatally pinned, SC coroner says
A 79-year-old man died after he tried to stop his rolling truck, a South Carolina coroner said.
The tragedy unfolded after the man got to his Anderson-area home Thursday, July 10. He stepped out of his truck, and it began moving as it wasn’t in park, according to the Anderson County Office of the Coroner.
“It appears that the victim tried to stop the truck from rolling, but was pinned when the truck came to rest on a tree,” the coroner’s office wrote in a news release. “The cause of death is mechanical asphyxiation due to blunt force trauma.”
First responders found the man dead at the scene. He was identified as Steven Franklin Mathis.
The coroner’s office said Mathis’ death was ruled an accident. As of early July 11, the case was still under investigation.
The S.C. Highway Patrol in a news release said it’s also looking into Mathis’ death.
Anderson is a roughly 30-mile drive southwest from Greenville.
This story was originally published July 11, 2025 at 8:59 AM.
