Cops: Man Driving Truck Stolen From Bristol Leads Them On Chase

A man allegedly driving a stolen truck is accused of causing a lot of trouble in Lower Bucks County Tuesday.

The 26-year-old Bensalem man was taken into custody Tuesday afternoon after a police chase in a pickup truck reported stolen from Bristol. The chase caused numerous accidents and ended with a nasty crash on the southbound I-95 on-ramp at the Newtown exit.

Yardley Borough police said in a statement late Tuesday night that officers were dispatched around 3:45 p.m. Tuesday to Main Street and Afton Avenue for a reported hit-and-run crash. A 2008 white Dodge pickup truck ended up striking a Ford Focus that was traveling south on Main Street. The owner of the Ford and a witness both reported the truck was leaving a parking lot and accelerated to push the Ford out of its way instead of backing up to get around it.

Police said they shortly after learned the same pickup truck struck a school bus with children inside while traveling west on West Afton Avenue. The children were uninjured but the bus sustained driver-side damage.

A short time later, officers found the pickup truck driving west on Yardley-Newtown Road and attempted to stop it. They eventually blocked the truck after it made a right into a cul-de-sac, police said.

“The operator drove at police and escaped by driving across the lawn of a home striking a tree and a mailbox,” authorities said, explaining how the pickup truck escaped from the cul-de-sac.

The pursuit then traveled onto northbound I-95 and was discontinued after the pickup truck turned around and began traveling the wrong direction in the northbound lanes, police said.

Officers eventually tried to stop the truck again at the Newtown exit on I-95 in Lower Makefield. Moments later, the truck collided with a black Chevrolet pickup truck coming from the Newtown Bypass, police said. They added the driver of the Chevrolet suffered minor injuries and was treated at an area hospital.

The pickup driven by the Bensalem man was discovered to be stolen from Bristol about a half-hour before the first hit-and-run in Yardley, police said.

The driver of the reckless pickup truck reportedly caused numerous minor accidents in Lower Makefield, police said.

The Bensalem driver was taken to the hospital and will be charged with receiving stolen property, reckless endangerment and DUI, police said.

While Pennsylvania State Police along with Lower Makefield and Yardley police investigated the incident, the ramp was closed for a period of time during the evening rush hour.