REHOBOTH, Mass. -- Holy Cow! A Seekonk woman suddenly found an unexpected passenger in her back seat while driving home with her daughter after running a simple errand.
Tonya Coccia, 46, said the street was dark when she suddenly saw cows that had wandered out onto the road from a nearby farm. She swerved, but hit two of them. One was a massive Black Angus.
"I only saw it for a split second before it came up it into my windshield,” Coccia said.
One of the cows had gone airborne.
“There was airbags and smoke and me and my daughter was losing it. I thought that was it, but I felt my car start shaking.”
The cow had flipped over the roof of the car, gone through the back window and landed in the back seat.
“I didn’t really want to see what was there, but I saw a black cow head in my back window. My daughter turned this way and said ‘Mom there’s a cow in the back seat!’ And we just took off,” Coccia said.
The car's hood and roof were crushed and the windshield was smashed.
Coccia said she realized there were bound be jokes. The cow in the back seat was not seriously injured, but the second cow did not survive.
“It could have just as easily gone through the windshield and we’d be talking about very serious injuries or possibly death,” said Rehoboth police Sgt. Richard Shailor.
The cow was frightened and agitated. Firefighters and police had to tie it down so it wouldn't move inside the car. They towed the car to the farm and let it out.
Both Coccia and her daughter Haley, 14, suffered minor injuries. Her car was a total loss.
Tonya Coccia, 46, said the street was dark when she suddenly saw cows that had wandered out onto the road from a nearby farm. She swerved, but hit two of them. One was a massive Black Angus.
"I only saw it for a split second before it came up it into my windshield,” Coccia said.
One of the cows had gone airborne.
“There was airbags and smoke and me and my daughter was losing it. I thought that was it, but I felt my car start shaking.”
The cow had flipped over the roof of the car, gone through the back window and landed in the back seat.
“I didn’t really want to see what was there, but I saw a black cow head in my back window. My daughter turned this way and said ‘Mom there’s a cow in the back seat!’ And we just took off,” Coccia said.
The car's hood and roof were crushed and the windshield was smashed.
Coccia said she realized there were bound be jokes. The cow in the back seat was not seriously injured, but the second cow did not survive.
“It could have just as easily gone through the windshield and we’d be talking about very serious injuries or possibly death,” said Rehoboth police Sgt. Richard Shailor.
The cow was frightened and agitated. Firefighters and police had to tie it down so it wouldn't move inside the car. They towed the car to the farm and let it out.
Both Coccia and her daughter Haley, 14, suffered minor injuries. Her car was a total loss.
