WALTON, Ind. -- The Walton Community Volunteer Fire Department's fire engine was out for a ride last week, even though none of its firefighters were on board.
Three individuals have been accused of stealing the fire engine from the Walton Community Volunteer Fire Department late Wednesday.
Two 19-year-olds, Benjamin Allen Miller of Walton and Justin Bryce Corn of Chalmers, face charges of auto theft, a class D felony, and criminal trespass, a class A misdemeanor. A third man, 21-year-old Aaron Scott Richardson of Walton, faces a charge of assisting a criminal, a class D felony.
All three are scheduled to appear in Cass Superior Court II this morning for an initial hearing.
After a Walton firefighter spotted the truck on the road before midnight, the Cass County Sheriff's Department and Walton firefighters gave chase.
Cass County Sheriff Randy Pryor said the truck stopped along County Road 950 South in Cass County and the two occupants fled into a nearby cornfield.
Richardson, who is accused of dropping the other men off at the fire station, surrendered at the sheriff's department at 3:01 a.m. Thursday.
About 40 minutes later, Pryor reached Corn on his cellphone and advised him to walk out to the road and wait for sheriff's deputies to pick him up. Pryor said Corn followed that advice and was picked up just across the Carroll County line.
Miller turned himself in at the sheriff's department about 4 hours later.
Pryor said all three men had been drinking. He said Corn recorded a reading of .11 percent on a portable breath test.
Though the fire engine started at the station at 210 S. Depot St. and ended near the Cass County line, Pryor said the truck might have traveled even farther.
"They may have been driving it before it was spotted," Pryor said.
Pryor said there was no sign of forced entry at the fire station, leading investigators to believe one of the individuals knew the code to the building.
Rusty Logan, Walton Fire Department first assistant chief, was the first firefighter to spot the truck on the road. Contacted Monday, he said the department had no comment on the theft, because the case was still ongoing.
Copyright 2012 - Pharos-Tribune, Logansport, Ind.
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
