THE 56 YEAR-OLD ATASCADERO MAN, WHO DIED AS A RESULT OF TUESDAY’S HEAD-ON CRASH ON HIGHWAY 156, HAS BEEN IDENTIFIED. JOHN WALTER THOMPSON WAS DRIVING EASTBOUND WHEN HIS PICK-UP TRUCK DRIFTED INTO ONCOMING TRAFFIC, CRASHING INTO A BIG-RIG HEAD-ON. HIS PASSENGER, 20 YEAR-OLD RYAN THOMPSON, WAS AIR-LIFTED TO A BAY AREA TRAUMA CENTER, WITH NON LIFE THREATENING INJURIES; WHILE THE DRIVER OF THE BIG RIG WAS HOSPITALIZED WITH COMPLAINTS OF CHEST PAIN.
