MARTINEZ — State and local investigators on Tuesday tried to determine how and why a dump truck carrying gravel toppled over and crushed a car in an adjacent driveway Monday, killing a 32-year-old pregnant woman whose 4-year-old daughter was standing nearby.

Some neighbors were angered to see work continuing Tuesday morning along Shell Avenue just west of Pine Street into the afternoon, but a city public works official said late Tuesday that construction in the area will be shut down for the rest of the week.

Lindsey Combs, who relatives said was engaged and expecting her second child, was killed Monday afternoon when the big-rig trailer carrying gravel tipped over as she was moving her car at the request of workers, police said.

One neighbor, Amy Dunbinsky, said Tuesday that she and other residents felt angry when it appeared the construction work had resumed outside Combs’ home less than 24 hours after she was killed and that it showed a lack of respect.

But Don Salts, Martinez’s deputy director of public works, said the scene was unsafe when it was shut down after the accident and that more work was needed to safely secure the area.

Salts said he “completely understands” why bystanders would think the sidewalk work was simply resuming.

“It’s a terrible tragedy; obviously our prayers go out to the family,” Salts said.

Work at the site along Shell Avenue had shut down by 3 p.m. Tuesday.

Robert Combs, Lindsey Combs’ brother, declined to speak about his sister Tuesday, saying that the family was still trying to come to terms with her death. He said Monday that “this could have been avoided.”

A team from the state Division of Occupational Safety and Health was continuing its work Tuesday. Julia Bernstein, an Oakland-based spokeswoman for Cal/OSHA, wouldn’t share specifics about the investigation Tuesday but said inspectors would focus on whether proper safety precautions were being taken and whether safety laws were being followed.

A big rig with a large dump trailer filled with gravel was working Monday about 1 p.m. in front of a house in the 800 block of Shell Avenue, a narrow, hilly, winding street. The work was part of the city’s “Alhambra Valley Road Sidewalk Gap Closure and Shell Avenue Pedestrian/Bicycle Improvement Project.” At least some neighbors had received notices in the previous two weeks from project contractor JJR Construction, based in San Mateo. The work, which is supposed to take 30 days, started March 9.

The driver was raising the trailer to dump the gravel, Martinez police Lt. Aaron Roth said, when the rig tipped over onto Combs’ car in her own driveway. Police said Combs had been asked by a work crew member to move her car moments before the accident. Roth said Combs’ 4-year-old daughter was standing nearby when the car was crushed, but that it isn’t believed the young girl was in imminent physical danger from the tipping truck.

It took until almost 10 p.m. Monday for big-rig tow trucks to fully clear Shell Avenue.

Calls ﻿to JJR Construction seeking comment were not returned Tuesday afternoon. Bernstein identified the driver of the truck as Daryl Crockett, an independent contractor who owned the tractor he drove. The trailer Crockett was pulling was owned by Greg’s Trucking of San Mateo, she added. A person at that office said that owner Greg Menna was not available Tuesday afternoon.

Bernstein said there’s no way of knowing how long Cal/OSHA’s investigation of this accident will take, but that it must be concluded within six months.

Dunbinsky said the sidewalk and driveway work had been going on in that neighborhood for about two weeks. She arrived home Monday afternoon to find chaos along Shell Avenue, with the road closed, the dump truck tipped over and the car crushed.

“She was my neighbor for two years,” Dunbinsky said before starting to cry. “I love her to death … she’s bubbly, a truly beautiful person inside and out.”

She said Combs usually drove her young daughter to preschool every morning and then returned to drive her partner to the BART station later each morning, as they had only one car.

“I’m angry, and I don’t know who to blame,” Dunbinsky said, amid her tears. “It was not her time to die.”

Relatives have set up a fundraising site to help bring family from Montana to California for Combs’funeral at www.gofundme.com/psl18k. A second fund to pay for funeral expenses and establish an education fund for Combs’ daughter is at http://www.gofundme.com/lindseycombs.

Contact Rick Hurd at 925-945-4789 and follow him at Twitter.com/3rdERH. Contact Sam Richards at 925-943-8241 and follow him at Twitter.com/samrichardsWC.