A motorbike rider was decapitated in a gruesome freak accident when an out-of-control driver knocked down a utility pole that left a veritable garrote of wires stretched across a suburban street.

The morbid Rube Goldberg-esque series of events began when someone behind the wheel of a Ford Taurus crashed into a mailbox in San Bernardino, California, on Tuesday morning, then drove over a home’s lawn, and ultimately plowed into the telephone pole, according to the Riverside Press Enterprise.

The pole broke in half, spreading taut wires over the road — just in time for biker Fabian Zepeda, 27, to come riding down the road and lose his head, the Associated Press reports.

The Taurus driver stuck around at the scene, but was not arrested. Police say he didn’t appear to be under the influence, but they took a blood sample just in case, according to the reports.