SMITH COUNTY — A man who stopped to help another driver on Sunday night, ended up falling to his death.

It happened just before midnight, when the man noticed that another driver had lost control of his pick-up truck while driving on a bridge at the intersection of I-20 and US Hwy 69 near Lindale.

The Good Samaritan, 26 year old Steven Kloppe, of Tyler, was passing through the area with his wife, and stopped on the bridge to help the driver in need.

Kloppe climbed onto the bridge to avoid traffic, and slid on the slick railing. He fell about 30 feet and landed on a railroad spur, according to Justice of the Peace Mitch Shamburger.

Kloppe was rushed to a local hospital, but was pronounced dead around 4:30pm on Monday.