Report: Man Driving Truck Filled With Scrap Metal Crashes, Runs Away

A man driving a truck filled with scrap metal allegedly stolen from a Bartow County farm escaped after wrecking the vehicle along a road.

A deputy with the Bartow County Sheriff’s Office was dispatched to the area of 144 Lowery Road in Kingston just after 8 a.m. Friday, Jan. 3.

While driving to the scene, the deputy was told by a dispatcher that a resident was following the male driver of a white Ford Ranger pickup truck “with antique farming equipment and scrap metal” in the bed of the truck, according to an incident report released by the sheriff’s office.

The dispatcher told the deputy that the truck crashed on Lowery Road, and an officer with Euharlee police was en route to the scene to investigate.

After arriving onto the scene, the deputy followed up with the resident, who said he was driving on Euharlee Road when he noticed a truck, “loaded down with metal,” leaving property located at 1653 Euharlee Road, which sits just outside the Euharlee city limits.

The resident said he was aware of recent thefts that allegedly occurred at the address and “knew that the vehicle was not supposed to be there.”

He told the deputy he began pursuing the vehicle in an effort to obtain the truck’s tag information, and eventually followed the truck onto Oak Grove Road where it ran off the road and lost some of the metal in its bed, according to the report.

“The vehicle popped a tire when it ran off the road, but continued on,” the report states. The resident said he followed the truck onto Lowery Road where the driver eventually lost control and crashed into a dirt mound.

A white man was spotted getting out of the driver’s side of the truck and fleeing into the woods, the report states.

The deputy spoke with a person who was renting the farm land where the items were allegedly taken, and he was able to identify the items as originating from the property, the report states.

Along with antique farming equipment, several pieces of clothing, a lower face mask and spot light were located inside the vehicle. Additionally, an angle grinder was located on the back floorboard.

The truck was impounded and will soon be processed for evidence. The items were returned to the farm.

Anyone who has information about the incident is asked to call the sheriff’s office at (770) 382-5050.

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