#Alaska man Thomas Arrington killed when debris pierces windshield in freak accident

An Alaska man vacationing in New England was killed Friday when a large piece of metal suddenly smashed through the windshield of his rental car, police said.

Thomas Arrington, 69, was heading north on I-95 near Danvers, Massachusetts around 8:23 a.m. when debris fell out of a dump truck on the same side of the highway, according to Massachusetts State Police.

The piece of metal, identified as a screed, a tool used to level and smooth freshly poured concrete, struck Arrington, who was traveling with a 68-year old female passenger.

Though severely injured, Arrington was able to veer his rented Ford Fusion into another lane and stop the car. He was pronounced dead at the scene by first responders. 

Arrington, of Palmer, Alaska, and the woman had just arrived in Massachusetts a day earlier for a planned vacation.

Police determined that the screed came from a 2020 Ford F550 dump truck, operated by a 21-year-old man working for a Massachusetts construction company. The employee reached out to state police and is cooperating, cops said.

An investigation is ongoing and will determine if charges are warranted.