Early this morning, July 9, at 1:05, officers were alerted by Central Lane 911 about a UPS Semi Truck and 53-foot trailer that has just been stolen from the area of W. 7th and Garfield. The victim had seen a man, later identified as Joshua James Crump, age 28, in the cab of the truck. As the victim approached the cab and tried to open the door, Crump shoved him backwards off the cab steps. The victim last saw his truck going east on 7th Avenue.
An officer spotted the stolen semi-truck and observed the stolen semi-truck in the area of Delta and Green Acres and began following it east on Green Acres. The truck’s hydraulic lift was still down and the rear doors were open. Sparks were flying. There were no packages onboard.
EPD officers did not pursue it, but did keep an eye on it from a distance. Several additional officers arrived in the area as the truck turned north onto Matt Drive and then east on Guadalupe, where it hit a parked car and continued east toward County Farm Road. Crump attempted to turn south onto County Farm Road and ran over a large tree and several large arborvitae shrubs and became stuck. Crump continued to try to back up and drive forward even though the truck was high centered and would not move.
An officer used his less than lethal 40 mm sponge rounds on the driver’s door window in an attempt to break it, without success. Another officer was able to use a baton to break the window out while another officer applied OC spray into the cab and directed at Crump. This stopped Crump from his attempt to drive away. After several minutes, with Crump refusing to exit, he came out and was quickly taken into custody. He was transported to a local hospital for routine and precautionary and then transported to the Lane County Jail on charges of UUV, Robbery III, DUII, Reckless Driving and Hit and Run.