Truck lands on top of car in Port Arthur

Published 6:09 pm Friday, January 9, 2009

All Kevin Johnson wanted to do was sell his 1988 Oldsmobile.

After Friday morning, however, the going rate for his car went from $4,500 to $0 after a truck driving past his house in the 1300 block of DeQueen Blvd. went off the road, hit a curb and landed on top of it.

The 2008 red Dodge Hemi truck was driving North on DeQueen just before noon when the accident occurred.

“I was out on a trip to Lowe’s,” Johnson said.

“And I came back and saw this truck up in the air. It must have jumped the curb and got airborne.”

“I thought Hercules came and lifted it up — I thought ‘how else could this have happened?’”

Emergency officials at the scene were trying to determine whether the man, who’s name was not released, suffered a medical emergency or fell asleep at the wheel before going off the road.

Port Arthur Fire Department members were not able to remove the driver from his truck before removing the truck from on top of the car.

PAFD Engineer Kevin Jones entered the truck and stayed with the driver while securing him in place for the truck removal.

“He seemed a bit confused,” Jones said.

“I was just trying to keep him calm and I tried to figure out what happened — whether it was a medical issue prior to the accident.”

Jones also put his fire helmet on the driver as a precaution in case the truck rolled off the car or the glass shattered.

“I was also concerned whether he had any neck or back injuries,” Jones said.

No one was in Johnson’s car at the time of the wreck. The driver of the truck was taken to Christus St. Mary’s by ambulance.

mtobias@panews.com

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