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A turkey was struck by a westbound vehicle on U.S. 20.Captain Michael Kellems/ La Porte County Sheriff’s Office
Corina Tarabocchia, who was a passenger in the vehicle when it struck the turkey, looks into the vehicle.Captain Michael Kellems/ La Porte County Sheriff’s Office
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Captain Michael Kellems/ La Porte County Sheriff’s Office
Captain Michael Kellems/ La Porte County Sheriff’s Office
Captain Michael Kellems/ La Porte County Sheriff’s Office
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A passerby from Chicago stopped at the scene to help and asked to take the bird. A permit was issued for him to possess the turkey.Captain Michael Kellems/ La Porte County Sheriff’s Office
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ROLLING PRAIRIE, Ind. — A New Jersey family traveling through northern Indiana got a shock when a 30-pound turkey crashed through their vehicle’s windshield.

LaPorte County Sheriff’s Office Capt. Michael Kellems says the flying bird collided Tuesday with the family’s rented SUV. The dead turkey was left lodged in the shattered windshield as driver John Tarabocchia of Emerson, New Jersey, pulled over along U.S. 20.

Kellems says he’s been an officer for 31 years and he’s “never seen something like that.”

He says Tarabocchia and his three passengers suffered only minor cuts.

Tarabocchia tells The Indianapolis Star his family was headed to a Chicago airport to return home after visiting his daughter at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend. The family was about 25 miles west of South Bend.

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