This guy's either very bored or very brave.
Posted on 07/13/2006 7:46:40 AM PDT by SmithL
A "bored" teenager took a joy ride early today over much of the city -- on a stolen John Deere four-wheel-drive front-end loader.
A 911 dispatcher got the call about 2:28 a.m. of a reckless driver on a heavy piece of equipment on the Cumberland Avenue Strip.
Police responded.
It was big. It was yellow. And it wasn't the LSU football team.
"I bet you never seen a 13-year-old drive one that good," the 444J loader's driver told the first Knoxville police officer to arrive.
Weighing more than 10 tons, the 110 horsepower, $150,000 loader was taken from a construction site on Pleasant Ridge Road near Merchants Road, KPD spokesman Darrell DeBusk said.
The teen told police the keys were in it, so why not.
"I was bored," he said.
He told police he drove Pleasant Ridge to Sullivan Road, through the Kroger parking lot, to Ed Shouse road, to Middlebrook Pike, to Lonas Road, to Hollywood Drive, to Sutherland Avenue to Newcom Avenue, to Kingston Pike, to Cumberland Avenue, across the Henley Bridge, to Gay Street, to Summit Hill, to west 11sth Street, to Cumberland Avenue.
Behind 1801 Cumberland Ave., he was corralled.
Police said the only damage was at Gay and Union to the street where the teen apparently lowered the scoop.
He was charged with theft of property over $25,000 and violation of curfew. He was taken to the Richard L. Bean Juvenile Service Center to await a court hearing.
The John Deere was impounded.
better guard yer plow from our teen, lol! ;)
...that WELL
Gooder than grits.
This guy's either very bored or very brave.
He should have took a joyride in an 844J, would have made for a better story. 444's are the babies of the Deere loaders. LOL! :)
The machine weighs 20,000 pounds but only has a 110 horsepower engine? Must be a typo.
Nah. The power's for the hydraulics. It doesn't have to move fast. 110's plenty.
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