Tracking Tech Helps Police Catch Up With Stolen Dump Truck

A man was arrested on a highway off-ramp after allegedly stealing a construction truck from a fast food restaurant and then attempting to run away from police.

Brian Rodriguez, 35, of Philadelphia, has been charged with receiving stolen property and evading arrest or detention on foot.

Middletown Township police were alerted at 4:27 p.m. Monday that a blue and silver Mack dump truck belonging to a construction company had been stolen minutes earlier from the McDonald’s parking lot on South Oxford Valley Road in Falls Township.

The owner of the work vehicle used virtual tracking to monitor the stolen truck’s location in real time as police looked for it, authorities said.

The virtual tracking showed the vehicle moving through the area near the TD Bank on East Lincoln Highway in Middletown Township before traveling past Wheeler Way on Maple Avenue (Route 213), police said.

Lt. Zack Brosius told LevittownNow.com officers spotted the stolen commercial vehicle within two minutes of receiving the dispatch.

An officer intercepted the truck as it prepared to merge onto Route 1 southbound.

When the officer pulled a U-turn in his patrol car to initiate a stop, the driver exited the dump truck and fled on foot

The driver, who was now on foot, refused stop before being apprehended by officers on the Route 1 off-ramp at Maple Avenue, police said.

The owner of the truck told an officer that Rodriguez was not authorized to take the vehicle and that they did not know him, police said.

Rodriguez was preliminarily arraigned before on-call District Judge Regina Armitage. He was released after posting $100,000 unsecured bail.

Editor’s Note: All individuals arrested or charged with a crime are presumed innocent until proven guilty. The story was compiled using information from police and public court documents.