To say that it was a close call for two Iowa deputies and a state trooper when a lorry rear-ended an enclosed pickup truck, which then clipped a patrol car before going airborne and landing on a ditch on I-80 last Friday, is an understatement.
The Johnson County Sheriff’s Office released video footage shot from the squad car in which we see the two deputies talking with Iowa State Patrol Trooper Jesse Hernandez who was inside an unmarked vehicle pulled over to the side of the road.
Despite the severity of the accident and the number of vehicles and people involved, the only person who suffered minor injuries was the driver of the pickup truck, 45-year-old Dana Miller.
“It all happened so fast. I didn’t know what was happening until I was in the ditch,” Miller told KWQC. “When I saw the video, it did not look like me,” he added. “I thought, ‘Who in the heck survived that?’ I thought it was odd.”
Johnson County Sheriff Lonny Pulkrabek placed the focus on the driver of the semi-truck, identified as 49-year-old Michael John Smith, was was cited with failure to maintain control, according to the HuffingtonPost.
“This is just a glaring example of how close we came to losing Trooper (Jesse) Hernandez, Deputy (Aaron) Hammes, along with Reserve Deputy (Kim) Pearson … all because a driver of a semi chose not to slow down when approaching a crash scene full of vehicles and emergency lights,” Pulkrabek said.
By John Halas
Shout out to Shane G. for the submission!
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