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Truck Carrying 38,000 Pounds Of Cheese Crashes, Drops Power Lines On I-93 In Milton

BOSTON (CBS) - Crews continued to make repairs through the day on the exit 10 off ramp on the Southeast Expressway where an 18-wheel tractor trailer crashed around 1:30 a.m., the sound ringing through the Milton neighborhood.

"It was pretty scary, my wife and kids were shaken. It was a big boom in the middle of the night," said Glenn Hoffman.

milton crash i-93 south
An aerial view of the truck crash after sunrise Thursday. (WBZ-TV)

Police say 43-year-old Eri Pleitez of Lynn was drunk behind the wheel of the big rig that was carrying 38,000 pounds of Wisconsin cheese to a facility in Assonet. He hit a wall, taking down power lines along the way, and ended up on his right side. It brought the expressway to a standstill.

milton crash i-93 south
The truck was carrying cheese when it crashed at Exit 10 early Thursday morning. (WBZ-TV)

"It went up on the wall and it just flipped over. It's a good thing the wall stopped him. If he came this way he'd demolish the house," said nearby resident Roger Killalea.

Prosecutors say Pleitez told troopers he had six beers at a friend's birthday party in Chelsea, and while defense attorney John Stevens says he admits he had something to drink "his last beer was consumed three hours earlier."

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Eri Pleitez, 43, of Lynn appears in court on March 16, 2017. (WBZ-TV)

Pleitez says he was cut off by a black pickup truck that forced him up the ramp, but troopers say he failed field sobriety tests and had a blood alcohol level of .11.

Friends are defending the married father of three who's a self employed truck driver with no previous record. "He's just a really nice guy, a good father, someone hit him," said friend Jo Dellamano.

Pleitez has made bail that was set at $2500.

WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Ben Parker reports
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