By Evan Anderson, News 9
OKLAHOMA CITY -- The falling
temperatures led to a wild ride after a metro man left his truck running to warm
up and a thief jumped behind the wheel. But that is really just the beginning of
this story.
This isn't the
first time this has happened to Terry Lott. His truck has been stolen twice in
the last two years. But last week, he literally saw his truck drive off right
in front of him.
"I went in, got a
cup of coffee, that's all I did," said Lott.
Around 5 a.m.
last Monday, a routine stop at a 7-Eleven to grab a cup of coffee changed instantly.
"All of a sudden,
paid for my coffee, started to walk out, heard my wheels peeling out, ran
outside and tried to catch him," said Lott.
His Dodge truck, he
admits, was unlocked and running to defrost the windows and was taken right out the
gas station parking lot, just steps from the entrance.
"I chased him out
the driveway on foot about as far as I could get," said Lott. "Got up beside
the truck, got a good look at him. He went down the highway, went around the
corner, came around and he came back out, right over here, and I was still
standing here."
At that point,
Lott says he called police, and once officers arrived, he gave a report. He
left the gas station to get his work truck so he could drive up and down
streets in the neighborhood thinking maybe he would spot his truck.
"Pretty much had
given up around 10 a.m., went back to the shop," said Lott.
But then, he says
on his way home he saw the suspect. Taylor Ray, 25, drove his truck
right in front of him. So, Lott says he followed him while on the phone with a
911 dispatcher.
"Then all of a
sudden he stops, sees who it is behind him, takes off, goes around 28th
St. to McKinley, wrecked the truck," said Lott.
Lott says Ray
bailed and ran down an alley. He followed on foot, but he says the chase didn't
last long.
"I gave up, went
back to my truck," said Lott. "The next thing I know, police came around the
corner with him and put him in the car."
Lott also says that same truck has also been broken into at his
home, just a few blocks from the gas station where it was stolen.
Police say it's
never a good idea to take things into your hands or to leave your car running
and unattended. The suspect, Ray, has a rap sheet which includes assault
with a deadly weapon.
