EAGAN, Minn. — Folks who drive for a living will tell you they've seen almost everything imaginable while navigating America's highways and byways.
But what happened to a trucker on I-35E Wednesday afternoon will be a unique story, if for no other fact than he is fortunate to physically be able to tell it at all.
Eagan Police spokesman Aaron Machtemes says an officer was driving down the interstate near Pilot Knob Road yesterday when he saw a semi-truck driver on the shoulder frantically trying to wave him down. The officer pulled off I-35E, and found that the trucker's windshield had been completely blown out by a wild turkey, who was still in the cab and hanging out like he owned the rig.
"Lucky it (the windshield impact) was on the passenger side," Machtemes reasoned. "That trucker could have been seriously hurt."
The officer was able to remove the wild bird from the cab and walked it to a place it could be safely released. At that point the turkey wandered off on his own power like nothing had happened.
The trucker was not as fortunate. His rig was left undriveable by the collision with the turkey.
Officer Machtemes says he doesn't remember an incident like this during his time on the force.
