State Sen. Dennis Guth helps rescue man from overturned semi truck

State Sen. Dennis Guth, R-Klemme, was driving to work at the Iowa Capitol Tuesday morning when he noticed something on the side of the road: an overturned semitruck at the corner of NW Beaver Drive and NW Johnston Drive.

Then he noticed there were people kicking on the truck's window. Someone was stuck inside.

"I thought, 'I'm going to be late for my subcommittee,'" he said with a laugh.

Guth got out of his pickup truck and grabbed his 15-inch crescent wrench and gloves to go help break the windshield. By the time he got to the rig, the group had opened the door and was freeing the man from the vehicle. 

The state senator and a group of about 10 others helped carry the man down from the vehicle, he said. Guth said he left after an ambulance and firetruck arrived.

"It was his birthday today," Guth said of the man. "Not the best luck."

Robin Opsahl covers political trends for the Register. They can be reached by email at ropsahl@registermedia.com or by phone at 515-284-8051.