“He would’ve killed them”: Food truck owner recounts near-fatal crash
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A man is in jail after Memphis Police say he drove his truck into a food truck.
To make matters worse, the harrowing encounter was captured in the following surveillance video:
“If I had some customers standing there at the time, he would’ve killed them,” Mark Maughmer said.
Maughmer is the owner of the food truck that was struck during Friday’s incident at the Cordova Pit Stop Food Truck Park on Macon Road.
“We’ve been there three years, and we’ve never had a problem,” Maughmer said. “It’s a family environment.”
When he spoke with WREG, he was out of town getting his food truck repaired.
Maughmer said the suspect, identified as Alton Turner, appeared to be under the influence when he arrived at the park.
“So, he was being loud and just drunk,” Maughmer said.
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Maughmer told WREG that he and his colleagues had encountered Turner before, but never to the extent of what they experienced that night.
Maughmer says he told a business next door not to give Turner anymore to drink due to Turner’s behavior at the park.
He says this outraged Turner, and the two got into an argument.
Maughmer says after several attempts to get Turner to leave the property, Turner allegedly threatened to kill him.
“He said I’m going to get my truck and run it through your stuff,” Maughmer said.
As seen in the above surveillance video shared with WREG, Turner turns to walk away.
Moments later, he drives his truck through the fence, onto a platform deck and into Maughmer’s food truck.
“He said he was going back to his truck. I’m not letting you get to your truck. So, I kept telling him don’t come up here,” Maughmer said. “Don’t come up here. Well, when he came up there, I knocked him out.”
According to police, no one was seriously injured.
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Still, Maughmer is left to pick up the pieces, most notably over $30,000 in damages he has to deal with.
As for Turner, he is facing two counts of attempted second-degree murder and two counts of aggravated assault.
He is currently in jail being held on a $75,000 bond. He is due back in court on Monday morning.
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