Tossed tripod impales veteran

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KCRA) – A volunteer van driver and the veteran he was transporting narrowly escaped death when a tripod crashed through their windshield last week.

“I saw a yellow something out of the corner of my eye,” Tim Page said. “When it hit the windshield, then I ducked and kind of bent over, a little late of course. And when I straightened up and looked over, that’s when I saw this through the windshield.”

Page, who volunteers with California’s El Dorado Veteran Resources, was driving a man he picked up from Sacramento International Airport. They planned to stop at Mather Airport to pick up another veteran before ending their journey in Placerville.

“It was like a dream, for lack of a better description,” Page said. “It was very scary. And of course, seeing it with no blood spurting out was great, but at the same time, injuries don’t always have blood.”

Page said the tripod went through the man’s lung and popped out. The man was left with broken ribs and a partially punctured lung.

The California Highway Patrol believes Matthew Adam Thompson, 32, launched the tripod into traffic from an overpass after stealing it from a Caltrans survey crew.

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