Truck crashes into rogue bull in Des Allemands

Bruce McDonald

This Toyota truck flipped on its side after running into a bull in Des Allemands on Monday morning.

Two men who were traveling in a Toyota truck down WPA Road in Des Allemands ran into a bull that had escaped from an electric fence early Monday morning.

Alex Dufrene, 21, and Hunter McDonald, 19, both survived the incident without major injury. The men were wearing their seat belts.

The bull was killed in the crash.

The two were heading to work at around 4:40 a.m. when they ran into a black bull that was standing in the middle of their lane. The front of the truck’s passenger side crashed into the bull, which caused the vehicle to flip on its side and land off the roadway in a ditch.

McDonald, who was the passenger, said the bull’s dark color made it almost impossible to see until it was too late.

"The road was unlit so it was very dark," he said. "I had leaned back in the chair and was trying to sleep when I heard Alex scream and I heard what sounded like a shotgun when the airbags went off. He said the bull just came out of nowhere and we smashed into it."

McDonald said the vehicle was traveling around 55 miles per hour at impact. The average weight for a two-year-old bull is about 1,100 pounds.

"I remember seeing the truck go sideways and then we tipped over into a ditch," McDonald said. "We had to climb out through the driver’s side door."

McDonald said the whole ordeal is still hard to believe.

"I couldn’t believe we had run into a cow," he said.

McDonald said wearing seat belts, along with the truck’s dual airbags, prevented major injury.

"This taught me a lesson that seat belts can save your life," he said.