A would-be cargo thief will have plenty of time to thaw out it prison after an unpleasant stay in the back of one trucker’s refrigerated trailer.
Driver Joel Schumacer stopped at a rest area on I-74 near Batesville, Indiana on Tuesday evening. At around 4:00am, he heard someone in his trailer. He walked around to the back and shut the door, locking the intruder inside.
Schumacer was hauling a load of frozen beef and the temperature inside the trailer was a brisk -10 degrees. Unsurprisingly, by the time the police arrived, the suspect was banging on the door of the reefer begging to be let out.
Officers from the Ripley County Sheriff’s Deparment arrested 51-year-old Malcolm Denton. Denton was apparently too relieved to be out of the trailer to put up a fight and was arrested without incident.
Denton has been charged with unauthorized entry of a vehicle (a misdemeanor) and theft (a felony).
Source: batesvilleheraldtribune, livetrucking, wcpo
The driver was lucky someone working with the thief wasn’t waiting on his catwalk or somewhere nearby to bust his head open if and when the driver tried to investigate. That could’ve turned out REAL bad for the driver. There is nothing in that trailer worth losing your life over. He should’ve just stayed in the truck and called 911. Glad it worked out the way it did.
That’s what I would have done. I like going home to my family in one piece. Usually in cargo thefts, I read about, there’s more than 1 person involved.
Not all thieves are that well-organized – and not all noises in the trailer are thieves. The driver was likely completely unaware of the presence of the thief, until after the door was closed.
You hear noises coming from inside the trailer in a rest area or truck stop… what else can it be but thieves? A cow that cameback to life?
Chill out , the cops are coming!
I wonder how long it will be before the thief sues the driver for locking him inside the freezing trailer.
Looks like the guy in Goodfellas.
Maybe the guy just wanted a snack?
The door was open, he closed it. called the cops. Same thing I would have done. The only difference is I would have been armed. I don’t understand people that are afraid of their own shadow and the what ifs and find excuses to not do anything.
In the real world of trucking a few years ago this would not ended nicely for the thief.
If it was me i would have let him chill for an hour or so then called the ?
We really need Constitutional Carry laws enacted. I have a CCW and it really ought to be good across all States.
After passing full reciprocity you’d need to convince the companies to allow drivers to carry. An armed driver can lead to HUGE legal problems for the company.
Had it been me,I would ve done nothing to jeopardize my well being,saving a case of beef is not worth my or the thief’s life,if threatened I d let them take the whole rig, no amount of freight or rig is worth my life, and I certainly won t kill any one over a truck being stolen,let insurance pay for everything,killing some one doesn t come normal for a regular ham and egger, lives at a stake?,yes,defend them,freight or vehicles? No,I d give them the key and puncture the steer tire.
That has to be a company driver. If that was ur truck & ur cargo insurance that u r paying, damn right I’d shut him up n there, took him for a nice little ride & dealt with him personally before the cops came to meet me. Bunch of young punk drivers too scared to go against the very bad man. Wusses!!
LOL, where do they get these ridiculous stories from, Fake NEWS? So let me get this straight, reefer loaded with – 10 meat load , no seal ,no lock, then a 51 yr man not a 15 yr old just walks inside the trailer LOL, some of these stories are becoming really comical.
Something like this could happen.
Seals are easily broken. Locks can be cut (or picked)
It’s not as ridiculous or as comical as you think.
I’m sure the company will thank him for saving the load, and then put ELD in it!!