Stolen pickup crashes into utility pole
LOWER POTTSGROVE » A 27-yearold man who stole a pickup truck in Pottstown early Wednesday morning crashed it a short time later in Sanatoga, shearing through a utility pole and rolling the truck over on its side, police said.
The incident closed the 1900 block of East High Street for about seven hours.
The empty 2007 Ford F-150 was discovered by police at about 3:30 a.m. on its side against the porch of 1929 E. High St., the Victorian home with a rounded turret just west of the former Visiting Nurses Association building.
Officers arriving on scene were alerted that the driver, and sole occupant, had exited the vehicle and fled on foot, according to a post on the Lower Pottsgrove Police Crimewatch page.
Lower Pottsgrove Police were also alerted that Pottstown police had just had a similar vehicle stolen in the borough about 15 minutes prior to the crash.
Officer David McKechnie located the driver running from the scene on foot in the 2000 block of East High Street. The officer took the suspect, who Pottstown Police
identified as Thomas Patrick Dempster of the zero block of Walnut St., Pottstown, into custody without incident.
Dempster sustained minor injuries in the crash but the vehicle was heavily damaged.
Pottstown Police assisted on scene and are handling the criminal charges in this case since the theft occurred in the borough.
According to the criminal complaint filed by Pottstown Police, the owner of the vehicle reported it stolen from in front of his home on Walnut Street after he started it and went back inside his home at 3:25 a.m.
Pottstown Police Officer Steven Dise responded and subsequently heard the dispatch for the crash in Sanatoga.
Dise wrote that when he arrived on the crash scene, he found Dempster handcuffed and sitting on the curb. Dempster “was completely covered in mud and had a cut above his left eyebrow.”
Goodwill ambulance personnel were tending to him, but Dempster “did not require immediate medical attention,” Dise wrote.
“Dempster’s behavior was consistent with someone under the influence of a controlled substance. His pupils were dilated, he was hyper talking gibberish, and fidgety,” according to the complaint. “As Dempster was being assessed by Goodwill, he stated that he was driving the vehicle and the reason he took the vehicle was because he ‘saw it, reached out to it, and it became his.’”
Dise was taken to the Pottstown Police station, where he agreed to a blood test, according to police records.
After blood was taken, Dempster “kept pulling his hand and fingers away from me, preventing me from scanning his fingerprints,” Dise wrote in the criminal complaint.
“When I attempted to open Dempster’s right hand, he tried putting his left hand and arm around me. I grabbed his arm and shoved him against the wall,” wrote Dise. “With the assistance of three other officers, we made several attempts to fingerprint Dempster, but he kept resisting.”
According to the criminal complaint, Dempster is being charged with vehicle theft, receiving stolen property, both felonies; driving under the influence, leaving the scene of an accident and resisting arrest, which are misdemeanors.
Dempster also has an outstanding Montgomery County warrant for violating probation, according to Pottstown police.
Lower Pottsgrove Police handled the accident investigation.
“It was determined the vehicle was driving East on High Street at a high rate of speed before crossing onto the westbound side of the road, leaving the roadway and striking the pole before rolling onto its side,” according to the Crimewatch post.
The vehicle was towed to Sanatoga Auto Body. The roadway remained closed until PECO crews were able to replace the pole and wires.
The road re-opened to traffic around 10:30 AM.