A Benton County farmer used a plane to help track down a man hiding in a wheat field after he tried to hit a landowner.
The landowner spotted a pickup driving recklessly on South Glade Creek Road south of Prosser about 4 p.m. Wednesday. When he confronted the driver near the area of West Horrigan Road, the man allegedly hit the gas, and nearly hit the man, Benton County sheriff's Lt. Jason Erickson said.
The truck and trailer crashed about a mile down South Glade Creek Road and the driver ran into nearby wheat fields.
Around the same time the landowner spotted it, the truck's owner was reporting to Kennewick police that it was stolen, the Benton County Sheriff's Office said in a Facebook post.
A local farmer offered his help to deputies by flying over until he spotted the man.
Deputies arrested the truck's driver, and he was examined by medics before being booked into the Benton County jail on suspicion of possessing a stolen vehicle.
The Benton County Sheriff's Office did not release the driver's name.
It wasn't the only crashed stolen truck police agencies had to deal with in the last day.
Kennewick police were called to Oasis Auto Sales in the 1100 block of West Columbia Drive shortly before 5 a.m. on Thursday after alarms started going off, the Kennewick Police Department said on Facebook.
Officers rushed to the area and found a Ford F-150 parked on the side of Kent Street about 75 yards north of the dealership. The pickup looked like it had been driven through the chain-link fence around the lot, police said. It still had a piece of the fence stuck underneath.
It's believed the man broke into the dealership and took the keys, Kennewick police Lt. Ryan Kelly said.
The driver, Matthew Hacker, 50, of Pasco, was still in the truck. He was arrested without any incident, police said.
He was booked into Benton County jail on suspicion of burglary, theft of a motor vehicle, and malicious mischief.
The city has previously reported that there has been a high number of auto thefts in recent months. Kelly said the number continues to be high.
