JASPER COUNTY, Mo. — A trucker driving through Missouri recently found a fowl surprise through his windshield.
At around 1 p.m. on Wednesday, March 13, Sarcoxie, Missouri, police say that a tractor-trailer was traveling east along Interstate 44 near the 29 miles marker when a large turkey smashed through its windshield.
Driver Kevin Battaglia, 63, of Dallas, suffered moderate injuries and was transported to Mercy Hospital Joplin.
After the turkey hit the 2024 Peterbilt, Battaglia, stunned, steered the big rig off the roadway and into the interstate median, according to witnesses.
“With turkey season just around the corner, it’s important to remember that big birds will be on the move,” the Missouri State Highway Patrol said in a statement.
Born in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and raised in East Texas, John Worthen returned to his home state to attend college in 1998 and decided to make his life in The Natural State. Worthen is a 20-year veteran of the journalism industry and has covered just about every topic there is. He has a passion for writing and telling stories. He has worked as a beat reporter and bureau chief for a statewide newspaper and as managing editor of a regional newspaper in Arkansas. Additionally, Worthen has been a prolific freelance journalist for two decades, and has been published in several travel magazines and on travel websites.
