A truck that plowed through a house while a man in his 70s was home sleeping may have been the target of a cruel act of crime, police say.
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Initial investigations have led Tasmania Police to consider the fact a rock was thrown at the truck from a nearby overpass, striking the truck's driver on the chest and causing him to lose control.
The 34-year-old truck driver was trapped inside his vehicle for at least 45 minutes after it left the Brooker Highway at Claremont, just past the Box Hill Road overpass late on Sunday night.
Tasmania Police Senior Sergeant Karl Krelle said a "rock the size of a football" was found in the cab of the truck.
Upon escaping from the vehicle, the truck driver said he thought the rock had been thrown from the nearby overpass before smashing through his front windscreen and hitting him in the chest.
Senior Sergeant Krelle said early inquiries were investigating whether the rock had been thrown by some youths.
After control was lost the truck travelled a further few hundred metres, crossing the highway onto the opposite side of the road, through barriers and into the back of the man's house.
The occupant was uninjured in the incident, which Senior Sergeant said was "extremely lucky".
Senior Sergeant Krelle said the "very dangerous" incident could have resulted in the death of innocent bystanders.
He said Tasmania Police was "very, very interested in hearing information from the public so that we can bring those responsible to task".
"Somebody could have lost their life out of this as a result of this incident, and we take this incident very seriously," he said.
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