An Oregon man was arrested Friday after police say he stole a delivery truck while an employee was inside the truck's bed.
Just before 4:30 a.m. on Nov. 15, Milwaukee police were called to a report of a work truck stolen from a warehouse parking lot.
According to the company Elephants Delicatessen, a delivery truck was being loaded by employees that day when a man jumped onto the truck.
Security camera footage shows the suspect getting into the cab of the truck and driving away, forcing an employee inside to jump out of the back of the truck as it sped away.
“[The truck] It started moving even faster and then I started grabbing everything I could,” said Esmeralda, an employee of the truck. he told KGW8. “He slowed down a bit before hitting the tracks, so I jumped out.”
Fortunately, she escaped with only minor injuries, police said.
Witnesses told officers at the scene that the truck was equipped with a GPS tracking device. However, when police checked the scene, they could not find the truck.
Later that day, a deli employee alerted police that the van had been spotted in the Portland area, according to GPS tracking system data.
With the help of Beaverton Police, the truck was located and the suspect in the theft, Forrest Lee Guayante, 29, of Aberdeen, Washington, was still inside the vehicle.
When police tried to stop the truck, Guayante allegedly rammed it into a police car and attempted to flee.
However, when the truck stopped due to heavy traffic, Guayante allegedly abandoned the truck and fled on foot through a business parking lot and a neighbor's yard.
Officers were able to track and arrest him with the help of a police K-9.
Guayante was booked into the Washington County Jail and charged with unauthorized use of a vehicle, reckless endangerment, attempted escape, hit and run, and unlawful possession of methamphetamine.
The suspect also faces charges of kidnapping, criminal mischief, theft and fraudulent use of a credit card, Milwaukee police said.
