Charges: Snow Plow Driver On Meth Steals Truck, Crashes It, & Breaks Into Home
LINO LAKES, Minn. (WCCO) -- A snow plow driver allegedly on meth crashed a stolen truck with a plow on it, broke into a nearby home, and told the homeowner, "It's a chase" before police ended up catching him on foot close by.
According to a complaint filed in Anoka County, 39-year-old Timothy Dean Gross, of Pine City, Minn., has been charged with theft, second-degree driving while impaired (test refusal), third-degree driving while impaired (under the influence of a controlled substance), leaving the scene of a property damage accident, and trespassing.
The complaint states that at 6 a.m. on Feb. 11, the Minnesota State Patrol and the Lino Lakes Police Department were called to the area of the 6600 block of Clearwater Creek Drive in Lino Lakes for a motor vehicle accident.
A witness said a pickup truck with a plow had sideswiped his car as he was driving north on Interstate 35E. The witness said the pickup truck didn't stop, and then crashed into a ditch.
The driver then fled toward Clearwater Creek Drive. Gross allegedly broke into a home after shattering a window, only to have the woman at the residence yell at him to leave.
Gross' response was, "It's a chase," and left the residence.
When officers found him walking on foot nearby, he admitted to consuming a large quantity of methamphetamine over the past three days.
Officers' investigations say Gross had been working his snowplowing job in Minneapolis earlier that day, but at 5 a.m. he drove away in the truck without permission.
