A dump truck was stolen near a Burger King and taken for a wild ride. It ended in gunfire
What happens when a dump truck is stolen and taken for a ride?
In this case: tragedy.
It took two Florida sheriff’s departments to bring to a stop.
The aftermath: Another driver suffered injuries after being hit by a thief driving the stolen vehicle and evading deputies Wednesday evening. A second car was hit by the fleeing thief. After shots were fired, the vehicle crashed into a canal. The driver of the stolen vehicle was killed.
Here’s what deputies said about what led up to the chase and how it ended:
The Collier County Sheriff’s Office responded to a call for assistance from the nearby Hendry County Sheriff’s Office regarding a stolen dump truck that was headed into Immokalee on State Road 29.
What did deputies do?
Collier deputies tried to stop the stolen dump truck but the driver was having none of that. The truck — some say a roll-off dumpster truck used to haul construction debris — sped erratically, crashing into a car on New Market Road, injuring its driver.
The stolen dump truck continued its reckless ride, crashing into another vehicle as it led pursuing deputies into Farm Workers Village, a residential neighborhood, the Collier sheriff’s office said.
When efforts to stop the dump truck failed, “law enforcement shot at the truck.” The truck crashed into a canal. The driver of the stolen dump truck was found dead inside.
Deputies have not released the driver’s identity or more details on the May 19 chase.
Reaction
According to NBC2, the stolen vehicle was a 2015 Mack Truck that its driver parked near a Burger King on South Hall Street in LaBelle. When the driver went to where he had parked the truck, it wasn’t there and he called police.
“I feel like we are just becoming North West Miami! What is happening lately?” a reader asked Collier County deputies on the department’s Facebook post.
What is happening, you ask?
Recent Florida pursuits
Florida has seen its share of wild chases in recent days.
On Wednesday, May 19, five minors were arrested after an hour-long chase that started in Fort Lauderdale ended with a multi-minivan crash at the Pembroke Road exit of I-95 south. The incident shut down the highway at that point for more than two hours.
In that chase, it was a stolen minivan.
A bicyclist was hit by the fleeing minivan. Two other minivans were hit and spun on the road after impact. The stolen minivan flipped. Fort Lauderdale police said everyone’s injuries were not life-threatening.
On May 6, a man identified as Xavier Javern Cummings was arrested in Florida’s Volusia County after deputies said he stole not one, but two Cocoa police cars and then led officers on a multi-county chase, WESH2 reported.
