DUARTE — A 33-year-old La Verne man died early Saturday on the 210 Freeway when his car rear-ended a pickup truck at high speed, authorities said.

Jerry Ruiz was pronounced dead at the scene of the 6:35 a.m. crash on the eastbound freeway, just east of Buena Vista Street, according to California Highway Patrol and Los Angeles County Department of Coroner officials.

Ruiz was driving his 2003 Mercedes-Benz SLK 500 sedan about 95 mph in the fast lane prior to the crash, CHP Sgt. Kurt Stormes said in a written statement.

A 2003 GMC utility truck driven by a 66-year-old Sierra Madre man was ahead of him in the fast lane, traveling at about 65 mph, the sergeant said.

“Due to traveling at an unsafe speed for the slower moving traffic ahead, the Mercedes rear-ended the GMC,” Stormes said. 

Ruiz died at the scene, he said, while the driver of the truck suffered minor injuries to his neck and back.

The cause of the crash was being investigated by the Baldwin Park office of the CHP.