Runaway Pickup Takes the Plunge

Two men who hot-wired their own pickup truck got a little more than they bargained for late Saturday. <br><br>It happened at the intersection of 61st St. and Garnett just after 9:00 p.m. when the two men

Sunday, September 14th 2003, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

Two men who hot-wired their own pickup truck got a little more than they bargained for late Saturday.

It happened at the intersection of 61st St. and Garnett just after 9:00 p.m. when the two men were trying to get the truck started without the keys. They succeeded, however, the truck was in reverse gear and began driving in a circle around the intersection with no one behind the wheel.

A pickup driver who happened to be stopped at the intersection at the time found himself sitting inside the route of the circling, driverless truck but his vehicle escapted unscathed.

The runaway truck then struck a curb which caused it to shift from reverse into a forward gear. The truckâ€™s owner tried unsuccessfully to jump into the cab and stop the vehicle several times.

The truck then took off southbound across 61st Street before striking a fence in front of Leisure World pool company. It then ran into a demonstration pool in front of the company where it came to rest submerged in several feet of water.

No one was hurt and extent of water damage to the truck is still unknown.