‘He was a friend’: Community mourns Caruthers store owner

CARUTHERS, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – People in Caruthers are left devastated after a local store owner was killed in a car accident on Friday.

“He was really, really a good person. He was somebody you would want to put yourself around, like he was a friend,” Smith said.

Harbans Singh Lehra was killed outside of his store, the Elkhorn Market in Caruthers.

California Highway Patrol said a big rig crashed into his pickup truck, as the 80-year-old was pulling out of the parking lot.

Wesley Smith shared the moment he saw the big rig, hauling almond shells, flipping onto its side.

“I looked out the window and that’s when I started seeing the semi start going to its side, so I ran outside and I didn’t even have shoes on,” Smith said.

“Me and my cousin here, we helped get the semi driver out from the front windshield,”  Smith said.

Smith then ran over to the pickup truck, to a shocking sight.

“It was heartbreaking. I was I was barely able to talk to 911, tell him what street we’re on. Everything, just, it left my mind. I couldn’t remember the street,” Smith said.

The community staple was gone, and his wife was in the passenger seat— lucky to be alive.

Smith said Mr. Singh touched many lives.

“Almost every other day, we’ll go down and grab a couple sodas, me and my cousin and talk to him for a couple of hours before heading back home to play some games. He really enjoyed talking to us,” Smith said.

Smith said he cared deeply for his community, running his business for two decades.

In his final moments, people rushed to offer the same love and care he gave to them.

“At least two or three people from each house on the street was there trying to help. And it just it looked like how much he meant to people,” Smith said.