Teen killed after falling from truck in Lehigh County

Editor’s note: The original version of this story had the incorrect date of the incident. It has been updated to reflect the correct date.

A 16-year-old died Tuesday from injuries he suffered from falling out of a moving truck last month in Lehigh County, according to authorities.

Lehigh County Coroner Daniel A. Buglio said Tucker Wessner, of Heidelberg Township, was sitting on the back tailgate of a moving pickup truck about 7:10 p.m. June 24 in the area of Leaser Road at Follweiler Court in Lynn Township.

State police said Wessner was with three other teenagers in the truck. Wessner and one teen were on the back tailgate while the other two were in the front of the truck, according to a state police news release.

Wessner fell from the vehicle when it was turning left onto Follweiler Court. The occupants of the truck tried to help Wessner after he fell out.

He was taken to Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest, where he died from his injuries around 11:45 p.m. Tuesday, according to authorities. The cause and manner of death are still under investigation.

Wessner was going to be a junior at Northwestern Lehigh High School, where he played for both the varsity and junior varsity football teams, according to his obituary.

He also was a boy scout and was studying precision machining at Lehigh Career and Technical Institute. Wessner was loved by “all who knew him” and made friends everywhere he went, his obituary states.

The Lehigh County District Attorney’s Office and state police are investigating.

Anyone with information on the crash is asked to contact police at 610-395-1438.