Authorities say a hungry parolee caused a mess in downtown Davis early Tuesday after he had a hard time maneuvering a stolen dump truck through a drive-through lane.
Vernon David Grant Jr., 31, allegedly stole a dump truck from a local construction site around 4 a.m., Davis police Lt. Tom Waltz said. From there, he drove it into downtown Davis and to the drive-through lane of Jack in the Box on G Street.
But the truck hit a pole, and as he backed up, Grant struck a Dumpster-enclosure structure and a “no parking” sign, one of which apparently ruptured the gas tank and caused diesel fuel to leak in the parking lot and into the street, Davis Fire Department spokeswoman Evelyn George said. Fire and public works crews were called out to clean the spill.
Crews responded to a second spill at First and D streets, where police had pulled over the dump truck for vehicle-code violations and learned it had been reported stolen, according to Waltz. Grant, a transient, was arrested on auto theft and hit-and-run charges.