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Did traffic crash kill man?
Death follows non-life threatening injuries
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A 57-year-old Manteca man involved in an early morning vehicle accident in front of a Manteca bar on Nov. 10 has died.

George Richard Schaapman was a passenger in a vehicle that was traveling south on North Main Street when the driver apparently fell asleep, veered through the oncoming lane of traffic and hit a car parked in front of The Pub and Longue.

Neither of the two passengers appeared to have any life-threatening injuries, and according to Manteca Police Department Lieutenant Tony Souza, the driver did not appear to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of the accident. But when Schaapman complained of pain in his right leg and hip, officers called for an ambulance and he was transported to Manteca’s Kaiser Medical Center.

The Police Department got a phone call three days later from the San Joaquin County Coroner’s office saying that Schaapman had died, and that an autopsy would be conducted to determine the cause of death. Preliminarily it did not appear that his injuries from the accident to his leg and his hip were a contributing factor.

“We’re still waiting to hear back from the pathologist as to what the determination was,” Souza said. “It doesn’t appear that there will be any charges, but we’re still waiting to see.”

Souza said that it’s uncommon for there to be a delay with such a tragic outcome, but that it has happened before. The initial report that was filed listed the collision as “minor” and didn’t give responding officers any reason to believe that either passenger had life-threatening injuries.

No timetable has been set on when the coroner’s determination will be made public.