Truck Driver Survives Pumpkin Tossed From Creek Turnpike Bridge Into His Truck

NewsOn6.com

BROKEN ARROW, Oklahoma -- A California truck driver got quite a surprise when a pumpkin crashed through his windshield while he was driving on the Creek Turnpike in Broken Arrow late Tuesday night.

Dennis Kalista from Sacramento, California, told the Oklahoma Highway Patrol he was heading west on the Creek near 101st Street when the pumpkin was thrown from the overpass over the highway.

Kalista said the pumpkin hit low enough on the windshield that he wasn't hurt, but it did break the glass and ended up in his lap.

Kalista said his first reaction was to get the truck stopped safely, "Then it's anger, because this is my livelihood, and this is how I make my money, so now I've got a truck that the dash is all beat down and the window is broken, and it's really going to affect my personal life, you know, and my family, you know.  That's the first thought, and then the second thought is somebody  could have got killed."

While Kalista escaped serious injuries, others traveling down Oklahoma highways haven't been so lucky. 

A couple of years ago, someone tossed a cemetery headstone off an overpass along the Cherokee Turnpike in eastern Oklahoma.  It smashed through the windshield of Gerald Webb's truck, leaving him in critical condition and facing a difficult recovery. 

Lt. George Brown says the Oklahoma Highway Patrol will spare no expense interviewing witnesses, taking statements, looking for roadside cameras, anything, to get enough evidence to make arrests in the cases. 

"What starts out as a prank, they go out here and do something silly and all of a sudden someone is hurt or killed," said Lt. George Brown. 

Dennis Kalista is thankful that didn't happen to him.  He says if the pumpkin had landed six inches higher it would have hit him right in the chest.

Anyone with information on Tuesday night's pumpkin versus semi should call Crimestoppers at 596-COPS.