By CHRISTINE BOATWRIGHT / Staff Writer

COLUMBIANA – A Columbiana man’s stolen truck was discovered in Arkansas after the juvenile who stole the vehicle ran out of gas, according to Columbiana Police Detective David Alexander.

Chuck Fant’s truck was stolen during the night of Feb. 15, according to Fant.

Fant discovered the truck missing Feb. 16 and reported the theft to the Columbiana Police. The stolen 1998 Chevrolet pick-up truck’s information was entered into a nationwide crime report, and the entry received a “late hit” from Arkansas state police, Alexander said.

“A police officer checked it outside of Jonesboro, Arkansas on the side of the highway. He saw that it was vacant and appeared to be out of gas. He checked it and logged it,” Alexander said.

Alexander said Columbiana Police Chief Lamar Vick noticed a Shelby County Sheriff’s Office report of a runaway juvenile located in Arkansas. Vick obtained a copy of the report and contacted the juvenile’s parents, Alexander said.

“The (Arkansas) officer said there were some things that were in the truck that didn’t belong in the truck,” Alexander said, noting the items belonged to the juvenile.

Columbiana Police pressed charges through the juvenile probation office for the Class B felony, Alexander said.

The truck was returned to Fant, but not without markings of its journey through Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee and Arkansas.

“He busted the mirror, and it had a couple other dents,” Fant said. “He wrote (the states’ abbreviation) under the visor on the roof of the truck as he was passing through the state, and put a check mark of where he passed through.”