Theft suspect eludes sheriff's deputy

WINCHESTER – The driver of a pickup loaded with suspected stolen metal escaped from a pursuing deputy sheriff early on morning of May 7.

At about 1:40 a.m. May 7, a Grant County Sheriff’s Deputy on routine patrol saw an orange full-size pickup truck with headlights tuned off traveling westbound on State Route 28 West near Winchester.

The deputy tried to stop the pickup, but the driver sped up and tried to get away. The pickup then turned down a driveway at 10756 SR 28 West.

After a short distance, the truck skidded off the dirt roadway and over an embankment along an irrigation canal, and the driver was able to escape on foot.

An investigation after the chase revealed the pickup’s bed was full of scrap metal. The truck is registered to the property owner at 10756 SR 28 West.

Deputies suspect the driver of the truck had been stealing scrap metal and was trying to make it back to the home at 10756 SR 28 West. It's a location where sheriff’s deputies served a search warrant for an illegal scrap yard and arrested several people back on March 29.

The truck was seized and towed from the scene. The investigation continues.