Suspected drunken driver smashes into monster truck, authorities say

ALOHA, Ore. (KPTV/Gray News) - The driver of a monster truck in Oregon said this time it was his vehicle that was crushed after it was hit by what police said is a suspected drunken driver over the weekend.

“Pure Insanity” has been in Derek “Barney” Barnum’s office for 19 years. He said he built most of the monster truck by hand and shows it off at around a dozen shows a year.

“This is my old hunting truck, ‘73 Dodge pickup,” he said. “I put it on the drawing board, measured it out, and I had this crazy vision.”

Unfortunately, Barnum said his truck is now out of commission.

“All of a sudden, I heard something that sounded like a rocket,” Barnum said.

Around 4 p.m. Saturday, he ran out to investigate the noise and witnessed a horrific scene.

“The monster truck was off the trailer and pushed forward, it was kind of sideways,” Barnum said. “That’s when I noticed that the car was lying on its driver’s side.”

The Washington County Sheriff’s Office said a suspected intoxicated driver hit the truck.

Barnum said he is grateful no one was seriously hurt.

“She was coming up the road here, she got underneath those tires and picked the truck up … the truck weighs 6,825 pounds, so to lift my truck up? That’d take a lot of velocity,” Barnum said.

After checking to make sure the driver was OK, Barnum assessed the damage to his truck.

“It’s got a bent wheel, it’s got rear axle housing which is like a half-inch steel that’s bent,” he said. “In our time, we’ve done a lot of crazy shows and a lot of jumping and a lot of car crushing, but never crushed a car this way before.”

With the damage, Barnum said it could be a while before his truck is crushing cars again.

“We have to cut it up, tear it apart, straighten whatever’s bent,” he said.. “I’m kind of depressed about it. That axle shaft is from a 6700 Ford; it’s irreplaceable.”

The driver involved now faces charges of driving under the influence of intoxicants - alcohol, reckless driving and second-degree criminal mischief.