DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — Emergency crews have removed an 18-wheeler that drove through a sound barrier and crashed into the backyard of a DeKalb County home.
The crash happened just after 2:30 p.m. along Interstate 20 East between Wesley Chapel and Panola roads.
The big rig drove off the interstate, crashed through a sound barrier and ended up in the backyard of a home off of Shire Drive in Stonecrest.
The homeowner, Lloyd Phipps, told Channel 2′s Bryan Mims that he was home when the truck came crashing into his backyard.
“I was inside working, and the house shook as if something was jumping on top of the house. And then it sounded as if when thunder was rolling,” Phipps said. “I got up, took a look outside and there was this huge truck -- the trailer -- in the back of my yard.”
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“What went through your mind? Did you go up to the cabin and try to help the driver?” Mims asked Phipps.
“Well, the first thing that I did, I just thank God that my wife was not home because if she was, there’s a very good chance we would be in the backyard working,” Phipps said. “By the time I got out. A lot of my neighbors came. A few guys jumped on the truck and the driver was unconscious — going in and out of consciousness. And they tried to keep him alert by tapping him on the shoulder and … they stayed with him until the ambulance came and took him.”
The Georgia State Patrol confirmed to Mims that the truck driver is expected to be ok and had non-life-threatening injuries.
Phipps said he had been working on a garden in the part of the yard the truck crashed through. For now, he’s going to see what help he can get.
“I already called my insurance company and I’m going to be calling the Department of Transportation. My first concern is not so much to the backyard but that big gap that is there. (It’s leaving my) home vulnerable.”
The cause of the crash remains under investigation.
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