Police Captain Mike Sweeney said the Ford F-350 dually pickup owned by Landscape Consultants was parked near a job site in the 1200 block of Faith when it was stolen about 12:15pm.
Two employees of the business were having lunch at the McDonald’s at Ohio and Crawford noticed the truck was stopped at the intersection and they did not recognize the driver. They stepped outside the restaurant and approached the truck, when the driver jumped the curb, went across the lawn of the McDonald’s, nearly hitting the two employees, then turned right on Crawford.
After authorities were notified that the truck was stolen, a Saline County Deputy spotted the pickup near Simpson Road and Crawford pursued the pickup at speeds that reached 80 miles an hour. The truck went east on Crawford to Gypsum Valley Road, the north on Gypsum Valley Road, to Country Club Road. At that time the truck went into a field and was driven over a 30 foot creek embankment before coming to rest on it’s top in the creek bed.
The driver, 29-year-old Steven Matthew Rule of Topeka, crawled out of the truck and ran. Saline County Sheriff Glen Kochanowski said Rule was taken into custody by the Kansas Highway Patrol about a quarter to half mile from the truck around 1:35pm.
Rule was taken to the Saline County Jail on requested charges that include felony theft, aggravated assault, fleeing and eluding, and reckless driving. Sheriff Kochanowski said the Rule had been released from prison just two weeks ago.
The keys were in the truck when it was stolen. The value of the truck is placed at $10,000.