Soft drink delivery truck stolen
May 23—A Coca-Cola deliveryman making an early morning delivery to a Crossville convenience store got quite a surprise when he returned to the parking lot to find his semi-truck and contents gone. A resulting pursuit of the stolen truck in Putnam County ended with a crash and one man jailed.
Austin T. Hofmeister, 26, no address available, is incarcerated at the Cumberland County Justice Center, facing three counts of theft of property and was served an attachment for failure to appear.
The incident occurred May 10 between 7:30-8 a.m. at the Dollar General Store on N. Main St. when a delivery man stopped at the convenience store to unload Coca-Cola products.
When he finished and returned to the parking lot, the company's 2005 Freightliner semi-truck valued at $60,000 was missing, along with products inside the trailer and the driver's backpack that was in the cab.
The theft was reported to CPD ad to the company. A company supervisor was able to track the vehicle with a GEO tracker that had been installed on the vehicle.
The truck also had a camera inside the cab that captured a photo of the person driving the vehicle. Police immediately recognized the suspect and area law enforcement agencies were notified of the theft.
The tracking device started following the truck north on Hwy. 127 N. in the area of Clear Creek and as it turned west onto Hwy. 62 in Clarkrange. Monterey Police attempted to stop the vehicle and chased it until it left their jurisdiction, traveling on Hwy. 84.
A short time later, the tracking device showed the truck had stopped in the 300 block of Livingston Hwy. and the vehicle was found wrecked at that location. The driver, however, had fled the scene on foot.
Crossville Police later took Hofmeister into custody and jailed him on the charges. Bond was set at $301,500 and he remains incarcerated, waiting an appearance in General Sessions Court.
Michael Moser may be reached at mmoser@crossville-chronicle.com
