BENTON COUNTY, Ark. —
Prosecutors say an Arkansas man stole a fire truck from a fire station in Benton County Saturday night.
David Lamont Lutrell Perkins, 19, of Springdale, told a county detective he met some men on Dickson Street in Fayetteville and went with them to a party in the Monte Ne area, according to the affidavit of probable cause.
Perkins said he left the party. His phone was dead, so he started to walk toward Rogers. Someone drove by him and fired a gun into the air. He became scared and started to run.
He saw the fire department down the road, so he walked to it and went through an unlocked door. He said he planned on finding a way to charge his phone so he could call his mom for a ride.
Perkins said he looked around and saw the fire truck had the key fob inside, according to the affidavit. So he got in and drove the fire truck home.
He told police he stopped at a gas station on the way home, where he accidentally turned on the emergency lights. He said he was not intoxicated at the time.
The fire department reported the truck missing. They provided surveillance video to law enforcement. The assistant fire chief said it was a 2022 Ram 3500 Tradesman valued at $150,000.
Springdale police spotted the fire truck later that night outside Perkins’ home on Falcon Street, about a minute’s drive east of Thurman G. Smith Elementary.
Law enforcement found Perkins there and interviewed him, according to the affidavit. After the interview, they arrested him on charges of commercial burglary and theft of property.
Perkins was issued a $15,000 bond, and a judge ordered that he be assigned a public defender.
https://www.4029tv.com/article/arkansas-man-accused-of-stealing-fire-truck/45850791