MERCED, Calif. -- A wrong-way driver died Thursday about a half-hour after a Merced police officer stunned him with a Taser gun, officials said.

According to officials and witnesses at the scene, the 53-year-old man was driving his Dodge truck south in the northbound lanes of Highway 99 near Childs Avenue.

He hit five vehicles, officials said, before officers could stop him. He then climbed onto Mike Overvig's truck.

"I was like, 'Holy cow. You can't believe this, right?'" Overvig said.

The officers got him down from the truck, but an officer stunned the man just as he tried to run into oncoming traffic, officials said.

"My understanding is he became inactive and then started to become unresponsive. The officers immediately took attention and called an ambulance. CPR was started at the scene, is my understanding also," said Ed Higdon of the Merced Police Department.

In the struggle, two policemen and a California Highway Patrol officer were hurt, police said.

The cause of the man's death hasn't yet been determined. A postmortem is scheduled for Friday.