Terry Bannick thought his string of bad luck had just gotten even worse early Tuesday, when a stranger drove off with his truck — with Bannick in the camper.

Bannick, 59, has been living out of his truck since a dispute with his landlord and because he was looking for work.

“Times are tough,” he said.

They got tougher about 1:30 a.m.

As Bannick slept in the camper in the truck bed, he heard the driver’s door of his 1993 Ford F-150 pickup open and slam. Then the engine revved up and the truck sped away from the Washington Park neighborhood, near East Center Avenue and South Gilpin Street, where he had pulled over for the night.

“I tried talking to him, but he wouldn’t even look at me” through the sliding rear-view window, Bannick said. “I said, ‘Why are you taking my truck? Where are you going?’ “

For 2 1/2 hours they drove around the metro region. Bannick called police on his cellphone, but because he was in the camper, he couldn’t get a good look at street signs to tell authorities where he was.

“He could hear me talking to the police,” Bannick said. “I don’t know what was wrong with him.”

Finally, Bannick said, he spotted cross streets, West 90th Avenue and Wadsworth Boulevard, and gave the information to police.

The cops had an ally: not much gas in the camper’s tank.

Two blocks away, between Broomfield and Westminster, the truck sputtered and stalled out, just as police arrived. Officers drew guns and pulled 42-year-old Darwin Brown from the cab.

Police also found about an ounce of marijuana in a backpack in the cab.

Brown is facing charges of auto theft and marijuana possession. His address, listed on the police report, is the St. Francis Center homeless shelter in Denver.

Brown is being held without bail in the Denver jail, pending his first court hearing today.

Bannick said police helped him push the truck into a parking lot, where he added some gas. He had left the keys in the ignition, because he’s been having problems with it and was afraid he wouldn’t be able to get the key back in if he took it out.

“I’m looking for a work, and me and another guy are going to get an apartment,” he said. “Things are going to get better.”

Joey Bunch: 303-954-1174 or jbunch@denverpost.com