Unsecured wooden spool falls from truck, smashes into car

FOREST LAKE, Minn. (KMSP) - The shattered windshield and a chunk of splintered wood begin to tell the story. Wednesday evening, as Kevin Ames was driving on Highway 97 near Iden Avenue in Forest Lake, multiple pieces of a massive wooden spool flew into the car. Neither Kevin nor his son, who was riding in the back seat, were seriously injured.

“I pulled a piece out this morning and there was a cut above my eyebrow this morning,” Ames said. “I have some cuts and scratches on my chest.”

Investigators are still looking for the driver of the vehicle that lost the wooden spool, who never even stopped.

Ames says the incident remains vivid and while he’ll get over the minor injuries, it’s his 9-year-old son’s emotional trauma that worries him.

“He looked very shaken, he looked very pale, he didn't know what to do,” Ames said.

Ames said a massive wooden spool flew off the truck and smashed into his windshield -- spraying glass and wood chunks into his face and body.

“It was like a flying saucer coming right at the front of the car” he said “If it wouldn't have hit that bar, right between the drivers windshield and window, we wouldn't' be here.”

His son avoided getting hurt.

The Minnesota State Patrol says the trucker driving in the opposite eastbound lane never stopped.

“He may not have known, but when he got to his destination, he should have known,” Tom Zaccardi with the Minnesota State Patrol said.

Additionally, witnesses said a second spool was dropped about a quarter mile down the road.

Ames, though he remembers many of the details, knows very little about the truck.

“It could have been a small truck it could have been a big truck for all I know,” Ames said.

Recently, the Fox 9 Investigators reported on the frequency of unsecured cargo like mattresses and debris flying off vehicles causing damage and even death on the roads and found, according to a federal study, more than 440 deaths nationwide were attributed to unsecured loads.

Ames, though not severely hurt, said he's out a $500 deductible unless authorities find the driver.

“Because there's nobody else to collect it from, the guilty party left the scene,” Ames said.

Authorities say the driver will get a ticket, and in this case, will be cited for a misdemeanor because someone got hurt.