DUMP TRUCK’S DEMOLITION DERBY 2010
Even veteran police officers winced at the teeth-rattling moment when a stolen dump truck being driven in reverse by a 17-year-old plowed into a police cruiser. The impact was captured by a Stow Police dashboard camera on Saturday. A rear window in the police car exploded and its trunk was flattened. A SUV was spun 180 degrees as the dump truck also plowed into three civilian vehicles. "It really does look like something out of a movie, the way the cars are thrown about when the dump truck hits 'em" said Stow Police Lt. Mike Titus. "I'm very thankful that the (police officer) wasn't hurt any worse than he was." The Stow teen driving the stolen truck hit seven vehicles during a 52-mile, three-county run from police. He's been charged with eight felonies. And police discovered that the teen also has a suspended driver's license. The pursuit started Saturday morning when the owner of the 1996 Mack dump truck reported the truck missing, believing it was stolen. A short time later, Lt. Titus said the dump truck owner alerted Stow police that he found someone driving his truck on a residential street. When officers attempted to stop the dump truck on Fishcreek Road, the teen intentionally struck two police vehicles and fled while driving in reverse. During the pursuit two juveniles jumped from the truck's cab and were taken into custody. Police chased the driver throughout the city of Stow and to State Route 8 heading southbound. The dump truck driver used the truck to push other cars and police cruisers out of the way. The Ohio Highway Patrol and several law enforcement agencies assisted by clearing traffic and closing off entrance ramps to Interstate 77 during the pursuit. The dump truck reached speeds up to 74 mph through Stark, Summit, and Tuscarawas counties before the teen driver hit a stop stick which punctured the truck's right front tire and sent the truck into a guardrail a half mile east of Interstate 77 in Strasburg. "It could have been much worse," Lt. Titus said. "We were very fortunate that the traffic was light...and with the assistance we received from the other (law enforcement) agencies." Two Stow police officers involved in the pursuit were treated and released from a local hospital.