Man thrown from truck in Pharr rollover dies

PHARR — The driver of a pickup truck was killed late Wednesday night when we was thrown from his vehicle in a rollover crash.

Pharr police responded to the wreck at the 1300 block of West Juan Balli Road in Las Milpas neighborhood, according to a department statement.

The driver, 49-year-old Noel Hernandez, had been thrown from the vehicle, a 1999 GMC pickup truck. Hidalgo County Justice of the Peace Rosa Treviño pronounced the man dead at the scene.

A passenger, Pharr resident Cipillano Torres, 29, was taken to McAllen Medical Center with minor injuries, police said.

Witnesses at the scene told police that three other passengers in the pickup truck fled the crash scene. U.S. Border Patrol agents brought in a helicopter to search the area, but no one was found, Pharr police Lt. Guadalupe Salinas said.

Police declined to identify the driver pending notification of his next of kin. The wreck remains under investigation.