Winner of Fresno Grizzlies Taco Truck Throwdown fatally struck by train

A popular member of Fresno’s local food truck scene and the winner of last year’s Fresno Grizzlies Taco Truck Throwdown died on Jan. 23 after he was hit by a train while jogging near his home in Fresno County.

The death of Adrian Loza, 29, shocked his family and friends over the weekend. The Fresno Grizzlies and Gazebo Gardens, where Loza often manned his mother’s food truck, shared remembrances on social media after learning of the accident.

Loza’s younger sister, Bianca, said he was training for a marathon. He ran a similar 6-mile route each day.

Loza’s mother, Belén Ramírez, owns two El Premio Mayor brick-and-mortar restaurants and one food truck. She first started the business nearly 20 years ago.

In August, the mobile El Premio Mayor beat out 22 other taco trucks in both the judges’ and people’s choice competitions at the annual Grizzlies event, which drew a record-breaking crowd of nearly 17,000 people.

Loza’s family has set up a Go Fund Me page to help pay for funeral expenses. As of Wednesday night, it had raised nearly $5,000 of its $12,000 goal.

This story was originally published January 27, 2016 at 6:51 PM with the headline "Winner of Fresno Grizzlies Taco Truck Throwdown fatally struck by train."