SANTA PAULA – A truck slammed into a highway cleanup crew doing court-ordered community service, killing one of the workers and injuring two others Thursday, authorities said. The truck driver and another motorist also were injured.

Identities of the dead and injured community service workers were not immediately released.

A flatbed truck towing a trailer veered across Highway 126 in rural Ventura County shortly after 10:30 a.m. just west of Santa Paula, hit a car and plowed into three members of the all-male crew working on the center divider, authorities said.

One crew member died at the scene, another was critically injured and the third had moderate injuries, said California Highway Patrol Officer Mike Untalan.

The drivers of the truck and car received minor injuries, he said. Untalan said the driver of the car was identified as Marvin Chandler, 42, of Las Vegas.

The road crew consisted of one California Department of Transportation employee and five people referred to the crew by the Ventura County Probation Agency, Caltrans spokeswoman Maria Raptis said.

The program has an agreement with Caltrans, which supervises the workers.

The crew was working in front of a parked Caltrans van with flashing lights, Raptis said.

All three of those who were hit were had been ordered by courts to perform community service in lieu of jail time, said Lyle McDonald, division manager of the county probation agency work-release program.

McDonald said courts refer individuals who have committed offenses such as traffic violations, petty theft or drunken driving to the program.

“Usually those are less-serious offenses,” he said.

The Caltrans supervisor and the other two members of the community service crew were not hurt.

McDonald said his agency will work with the CHP to investigate the accident.

The accident created an extensive traffic backup on the highway's westbound side. The road remained closed for hours as investigators worked at the scene.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the court referred workers who have been killed and injured. Court referred workers are a valuable resource that helps us to keep our roadways clean,” Doug Failing, the local Caltrans district director, said in a statement.

Santa Paula is about 50 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles.