Stolen firefighter’s vehicle

By Phil Anderson

Topeka Capital Journal – March 29, 2017

So much for being a Good Samaritan.

A volunteer firefighter found out as much Wednesday morning after authorities said his pickup truck was stolen by the woman he had stopped to help after her car caught fire on Interstate 70 in west Topeka.

The theft led to a high-speed chase through a large portion of western Shawnee County, finally coming to an end just west of Dover in Wabaunsee County.

The woman suspected in the truck theft was taken into custody by Kansas Highway Patrol troopers. She was expected to be booked into the Shawnee County Jail on multiple counts related to the theft and chase. Her name wasn’t immediately available.

The incident began around 9:15 a.m., when a blue, four-door car was reported on fire on the shoulder of westbound I-70 near the S.W. Wanamaker Road exit.

Kansas Highway Patrol spokesman Lt. Adam Winters said a volunteer firefighter who was passing through the area saw the car on fire and stopped to render aid.

With the weather damp and chilly at the time, Winters said, the firefighter allowed the woman whose car was burning to sit in his truck.

The firefighter then got out of the truck to assist with putting out the car fire. After he exited the truck, the woman drove away, headed west on I-70.

Winters said KHP troopers spotted the truck a few minutes after it had been reported stolen as it traveled west on I-70 near S.W. Auburn Road, about two miles west of where the car fire occurred.

The trooper attempted to pull over the truck around 9:30 a.m., but the woman sped away, leaving I-70 at the Auburn Road exit, then turning south on Auburn Road.

The chase reached speeds of 90 mph at times as the chase proceeded south on Auburn Road.

About two miles up the road, the chase turned west onto S.W. K-4 highway, which meanders through a wide area of western Shawnee County.

The truck later went through the town of Dover in extreme western Shawnee County, continuing west on K-4 highway into Wabaunsee County.

The truck was reported to have been disabled after it hit a pillar and another vehicle at S.W. 57th and Douglas Road in Dover.

The chase came to an end around 9:45 a.m. about a mile west of Dover, near K-4 highway and Echo Cliffs Road, just inside Wabaunsee County.

No injuries were reported.

Additional details weren’t immediately available.

Posted by Gwen Dorr Romine, KSFFA Webmaster

http://www.ksffa.com

KSFFA’s Fire News Blog Home Page

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