BEAVER COUNTY, Pa. — Crews continue to work on the toll booths that were impacted when an 18-wheeler lost control Thursday night and crashed at the Chippewa Interchange of the Pennsylvania Turnpike. The damage is severe, but according to a man who witnessed it all things could have been so much worse.
“It was literally a miracle that that guy and how he missed hitting head on into the toll booth how he just grazed it,” said Tim Hutchinson.
Hutchinson is still in disbelief about what he witnessed here at the Chippewa Interchange along the Pennsylvania Turnpike Thursday night.
Hutchinson said, “Was coming up to toll booth and there was a semi in front of me and I noticed that he wasn’t slowing down and I started flashing my lights.”
It was right before 7 o’clock. Fortunately, no one was in front of the 18 wheeler when it barreled through.
“There’s the three lanes there and I was in the far left, he was in the middle one and he hit the little barriers that have the cushion on it. When he hit that one he actually shot him right over the median in between the two and that’s when he hit the toll booth itself. The trailer hit the roof,” said Hutchinson.
Hutchinson says the impact ripped the fuel tank off the tractor trailer.
He said, “There’s gas - diesel fuel everywhere. Oil was spraying out of the engine. I was covered in oil.”
Hutchinson immediately ran to help the driver. He asked if there was anyone else in the truck and then saw the drivers service dog which he scooped up along with he man.
He explained, “I reached up into the cab because there was no step or anything and he’s a good two or three feet above me and he kind of just fell into my arms and I had him like a fireman.”
He says he had one arm helping the driver, while the other arm carried the dog.
“Are you ok, are you hurt I saw he was bleeding from his hand, he had a big knot on his head he was limping,” Hutchinson said. “The dog was very calm when he handed it to me the dog didn’t try to snarl or snap at me or anything like that and the dog stayed by him.”
For Hutchinson - it was the second time that night he ran to a person’s aid. Just a few hours earlier at dinner, he performed CPR on a man in cardiac arrest.
“It was an eventful evening for me so I’m done being that guy for the rest of the year I need a break,” he said.
It’s unclear what caused the tractor trailer driver to lose control. He and his service dog were taken to the hospital and will be ok. Pennsylvania State Police are investigating.
Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts.
Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW
©2024 Cox Media Group
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/XCUXZC2XYZHCRGNNGKFEX6U3LQ.png)
