Man Killed on I-80 When Truck Part Crashes Through Windshield

The drive shaft from a semi-trailer truck broke away from the truck, then struck and killed the driver of a passing vehicle 8 miles east of Laramie on Interstate 80 Thursday afternoon according to the Wyoming Highway Patrol.

Officials say Antoine K. Dean, a 48-year-old from Indiana, was driving an SUV westbound with two passengers and was in the passing lane going around a semi-trailer. The semi's drive shaft failed, separated from the vehicle, bounced off the pavement and entered the front windshield of Dean's vehicle, striking him as it passed completely through the car.

The drive shaft narrowly missed Patricia Williams, who was seated in the back seat, before flying out the rear window. Troopers report that the front seat passenger, Deidre Whitlock, drove the vehicle into the center median and up against the cement barrier to bring it to a stop.

Dean was taken to Ivinson Memorial Hospital in Laramie where he died an hour after the crash. No one else was hospitalized although Troopers say Williams had some minor scrapes. This was the 69th fatality on a Wyoming highway this year.