Man busted after meter maid finds him napping in stolen truck

SEATTLE — A man made two mistakes after he allegedly stole a truck:  He went to sleep in the truck, and he parked it in a no-parking zone.

Shortly before 8 a.m. Monday, a parking officer was in the process of ticketing a truck parked in a no-parking zone in the 100 Block of Sixth Avenue South.

As she was entering the license information into her computer, the information came back that the truck was reported as stolen.

When the parking officer glanced in the truck and saw a man inside the cab sleeping, she backed away and radioed for officers.  While officers were on their way, a second man walked up to the truck and got into the passenger’s side.  The sleeping man woke up and the two drove away.

The parking officer maintained sight of the truck and gave responding officers a clear description of the truck, its direction of travel, and good descriptions of the suspects.

West Precinct officers arrived in the area and stopped it at Fourth Avenue South and South Royal Brougham Way.  Both of the men were taken into custody without incident.

Officers found keys in the ignition, but it is unknown if those keys actually belong to the vehicle.

The driver was later booked into the King County Jail for investigation of possession of stolen property.  The other man was interviewed and released from the precinct.

Detectives from the auto theft unit will be handling the follow-up investigation.

KIRO