A man whose pickup truck was stolen while he was on its ladder rack clung to the top and yelled for help during a wild ride that included Portland freeways, police in the Oregon city said.
He finally jumped onto a patch of grass after the truck left the freeway, and police shortly afterward took the alleged thief into custody.
The chase began around 5:45 a.m. Wednesday, when police were alerted to a pickup truck being driven recklessly in downtown Portland with a man clinging to a rack over its bed.
It was later learned that the truck’s owner had been working on a billboard and climbed atop the ladder rack to reach the billboard’s platform, about 8 feet up on the side of a building. He noticed somebody rummaging in his truck’s cab and started to descend — but was still atop the rack when the other man started driving away.
With police in pursuit, the truck headed south for several miles on city streets, then got onto the freeway: Interstate 5, Interstate 405 and then Highway 26 westbound.
The driver was jerking the wheel in an apparent attempt to shake the owner off, so the pursuing police hung back and tried to keep traffic away from the truck as they formulated a rescue plan, their report said.
After more than 12 miles of driving, the truck exited the freeway at the east edge of Beaverton, and the man on top was able to jump into the bed and then onto a patch of grass.
The driver went down a dead-end street, and police took him into custody.
The 36-year-old Portland man faces charges of robbery in the first degree, kidnapping in the second degree, reckless driving, reckless endangering and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle.
The truck’s owner was not seriously hurt, the police report said.
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