Backhoe Taken On Joyride Of Destruction In Belleville-Nutley: PD

NUTLEY, NJ — Someone took a stolen backhoe on a joyride of destruction through the Belleville-Nutley area last month, crashing into several parked cars before bailing out of the heavy machinery and making their escape, authorities said.

According to the Nutley Police Department, the strange rampage took place on Aug. 21, when Belleville police reported multiple car crashes involving a backhoe.

Soon afterward, Nutley officers on patrol came across a person on Park Drive who flagged them down and told them that someone just stole one of their backhoes. Nutley police escorted the person to the scene of the alleged theft, where they found the machinery with the keys still inside.

Belleville police later said that the backhoe was apparently taken on a joyride up and down a nearby PSE&G property. During the incident, the driver damaged some shrubbery and at one point got stuck in the mud and bushes, authorities said.

However, the driver managed to get the vehicle free and continue the rampage, driving onto several local streets in Belleville and hitting five parked cars before bailing out and making their escape, authorities said.

No additional information about the incident was immediately available.

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File Photo: (not the backhoe in the above article) Albrecht Weißer / imageBROKER / Shutterstock