Tires fly off truck hitting three vehicles

Two rear wheels and a hub fell off of a tractor-trailer Thursday afternoon on U.S. 70 and struck at least three vehicles in Havelock.

The incident happened at 3:15 p.m. when the two left rear tires of a Coastal Regional Solid Waste Management Authority truck separated from the trailer while it was headed east on the highway.

The truck was being driven by Tim Ozmore, of Newport, who works for Bowen Company, of Belhaven.

The wheels came off just west of Ketner Boulevard.

“I was driving down the service road and saw a tire coming,” said Debbie Wait, of New Bern. “There was nothing I could do. I was just hoping it didn’t hit the windshield.”

Wait’s brand new Toyota Sienna had a muddy tire print on the front bumper from the tire’s impact.

“We’re luck nobody was seriously hurt,” said Lee Lane, of Goldsboro, whose Dodge Ram 1500 was impact by a tire on its left front, denting the vehicle and tearing the bodywork.

“When it came off it hit me first,” Lane said. “It bounced off my truck and hit the median and went across the road. I tell you what. These people are lucky.”

The tire reportedly also struck another car, a red Trans Am, doing minor damage.

According to Eddie Hill, transfer station supervisor with the Coastal Environmental Partnership, the truck was headed back to Newport after having dropped off a load of municipal solid waste at the

According to Hill, the trailer is one of 25 the waste management authority operates.

Wait said that the truck driver saw the tire strike her vehicle and stopped immediately.

“He actually stopped because he saw my car hit, then he saw the tires came from his trailer,” Wait said.