The co-owner of the local restaurant, El Mariachi, was struck and killed on Interstate 495 in Raynham early Friday morning after he pulled over to help a family stuck on the highway, police said. 

Thirty-seven-year-old Taunton-resident Luis Contreras, who was referred to in a State Police report as a “good Samaritan” was pronounced dead at the scene.

State Police said the accident happened shortly before 1 a.m. A 44-year-old man from Chesapeake, Virginia was driving with two other adults and a 7-year-old child when his SUV hit a deer and became disabled in the middle travel lane.

Contreras saw the wreck from his pickup truck and pulled over into the breakdown lane to lend the family assistance. While attempting to help, he was struck and killed by a 21-year-old Rockland man driving an Infiniti coupe. Investigators believe Contreras was walking in a travel lane when he was hit. 

The Rockland driver stayed at the scene after the crash, police said. Neither he nor the family in the Audi suffered any apparent injuries. 

The crash remains under investigation.