Police ID driver died after piece of metal flew off truck crashed through windshield on I-95 in Danvers – Boston News, Weather, Sports

DANVERS, MASS. (WHDH) – Police have identified the Alaskan man who died after a large piece of metal flew out of the back of a landscaping truck and crashed through the windscreen breeze from his vehicle on Interstate 95 in Danvers Friday morning.

Soldiers responding to a report of a vehicle that had been struck by a piece of metal on the north side of the freeway near Exit 67B at around 8:20 a.m. found a 2020 Ford Fusion that had been impaled by a piece of metal 15 feet, according to Massachusetts State Police.

The driver, Thomas Arrington, 69, of Palmer, Alaska, was pronounced dead at the scene. His 68-year-old wife, who was in the vehicle, was slightly injured.

The piece of metal, which police identified as a concrete screed, pierced the Fusion’s windshield and struck Arrington. He was able to stop the vehicle in the third lane of traffic before succumbing to his injuries.

The screed, a tool used to level and smooth freshly poured concrete, fell off a 2020 Ford F550 dump truck that was being driven by a 21-year-old Lynn.

Police noted that the operator, an employee of a Lynn-based constriction company, has since identified himself and been cooperative.

Palmer and his passenger had just arrived in Massachusetts for a vacation, police said.

Video taken at the scene showed a hole in the driver’s side windshield of a towed Ford Fusion.

The yoke was attached to the back of a tow truck for removal.

A man who returned to the scene of the crash told 7’s Steve Cooper he was in the truck with his son, but they didn’t know the metal had blown away.

When asked where the piece of metal was in the truck, the man replied, “It was in the back.

Several lanes on the highway were closed for hours as police gathered evidence and worked to clean up the scene.

There was no immediate word on whether charges were filed in connection with the incident.

Anyone who witnessed the incident is urged to contact state police.