Man asleep in back of truck wakes to a moving nightmare

OLYMPIA, Wash. – A man snoozing in the back of his pickup truck in Olympia early Thursday morning got a rude awakening when he says a thief got in and started driving – while he was still in the back.

Jeffery Young’s odyssey crossed two counties and went 24 miles before it ended with him fleeing from an armed suspect on a dark stretch of road.

Young said he was asleep in the back of his silver 1989 Toyota pickup around 1 a.m. in the parking lot of the Capitol Medical Center when the engine started up and the vehicle got under way. Police said the suspect probably did not realize anyone was in the back of the truck.

Young immediately called police from the moving vehicle.

“Are you driving or are you in the bed of your truck?” the dispatcher asked him. “I'm in the back, under a tarp,” Young responded. “Who’s driving the truck?” the dispatcher then asked. “I don't know! I was sleeping! And my cat's up front!” Young breathlessly yelled back.

Dispatchers tracked his location using his cell phone signal and Young kept the dispatcher updated as he passed landmarks, including the 2 Mile House pub on Harrison Avenue N.W. west of Olympia.

At one point he says that there was a black car behind the pickup. The suspect continued driving into Mason County but eventually turned off Highway 101.

The trip ended down a dark stretch of road, where police believe the thief likely realized he wasn't alone. When the truck stopped, Young ran for help when saw the suspect approaching with a knife.

Once Young was out of the truck bed, the suspect drove the truck away. “They took off!” a distraught Young told dispatchers. “I’m on foot! My cat’s caught up in the truck!”

Law enforcement agencies in two counties are looking for the pickup truck and theft suspect.