Long Beach police say a 50-year-old man riding a mini-motorcycle was killed Wednesday afternoon when he crashed into the side of a truck that turned left in front of him.

The rider was headed west on Anaheim Street when a driver in a 2020 Kenworth Tractor-Trailer hauling a shipping container eastbound on Anaheim turned left at Hayes Avenue, according to police.

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The mini-motorcycle rider, who was driving along the curb line, “collided into the passenger side of the tractor-trailer as the tractor-trailer was turning,” the Long Beach Police Department said in a statement.

Police were dispatched to the scene at 4:46 p.m. and found the rider lying in the street. He died at the scene, according to police, who identified him as Nicholas Kusmich, a 50-year-old Long Beach resident.

Police said the truck driver stayed and cooperated with the traffic collision investigation.

“At this time, distracted driving is being investigated as a potential factor in the collision,” police said.

Police asked any witnesses to contact Detective Efrain Pineda at 562-570-7355. Anonymous tips can be sent through Crime Stoppers by calling 1-800-222-TIPS or visiting LACrimeStoppers.org.

Jeremiah Dobruck is executive editor of the Long Beach Post where he oversees all day-to-day newsroom operations. In his time working as a journalist in Long Beach, he’s won numerous awards for his investigative reporting and editing. Before coming to the Post in 2018, he wrote for publications including the Press-Telegram, Orange County Register and Los Angeles Times. Reach him at [email protected] or @jeremiahdobruck on Twitter.