FARMINGTON – A fully loaded cement truck rolled over at a construction site in Farmington Thursday morning injuring the driver.

Jay Johnson of Industry was backing the truck loaded with nine yards of wet cement uphill on a dirt construction road off Anson Road about 9 a.m. When he got out of the truck, Johnson noticed that the ground under the heavily-laden vehicle was too soft, and the truck was beginning to roll into the nearby ditch.

So Johnson jumped back into the truck to save it. When he attempted to pull forward, the truck rolled over on its side, Johnson’s wife, Connie, said Thursday afternoon. Connie Johnson spoke from the couple’s home, where her husband was resting.

Jeremy Allen of T. Buck Construction of Auburn said Johnson couldn’t see workers heading his way with chains to help pull him out of the ditch. He said Johnson, who works for Haley Construction of Farmington, was pinned between the steering wheel and door but was able to crawl out and lie still until the ambulance arrived. Allen estimated that the truck weighed upwards of 30,000 pounds.

Johnson was taken to Franklin Memorial Hospital, where he was treated and released. The 42-year-old, whose birthday was Thursday, fractured some ribs, injured his left shoulder and sustained several cuts and bruises, said his wife. He also hit his head on something, maybe the fire extinguisher, she said, but he wasn’t sure.

Connie Johnson said her husband always wears a seat belt, emphasizing the “always.” However, in this case, Johnson had not put the seat belt back on because of the time element.

“He saw the truck start to go and jumped in to move it,” she said, adding that she had taught driver’s education for years and was surprised, even given the situation, that her husband hadn’t buckled up.

“It was too instant,” she said.

The cement was intended for a slab for a small building to house electronics associated with a cell phone tower being built behind Titcomb Farm for U.S. Cellular, Allen said.