TUNBRIDGE — Just before midnight on Saturday, Michael (Micky) Whalen awoke to the sound of a dump truck crashing into the milk house of his barn on Tunbridge Mountain Road. Whalen said there were no animals in the barn, no one was injured and the driver walked away from the scene. The crash took out about 10 feet of concrete foundation and Whalen said he thinks that the milk house part of it “is a total loss.”
“I don’t know how he could have done what he did and not get hurt,” Whalen said.
Whalen estimated it will cost thousands of dollars just to clean things up.
He also had some hand and power tools, as well as some grease and oil filters that were stored in the milk house, which has become a de facto tool shed since Whalen and his wife Diana retired from an approximately 50-year dairy farming career.
Whalen said an insurance adjuster is scheduled to take a look at the scene on Tuesday. He said he knew who the driver was, but declined to name him.
The case remains under investigation, said Adam Silverman, spokesman for the Vermont State Police. He said that a truck hit the barn and the operator, who is unknown, fled the scene.
— Staff report
The troopers who responded to the call on Saturday were expected to issue a press release when they returned to duty on Monday night, said Lt. Hugh O’Donnell, commander of the Royalton Barracks.