Drunken Man Takes Kansas Gas Truck For A Spin

MANHATTAN, Kan. (WIBW) -- A Kansas Gas Service worker now has his truck back after police say a drunken man hopped in the driver’s seat and drove off in it.
It happened around 2:15 AM Sunday December 11th in the 1100 block of Ratone Street in Manhattan.

Allen Loberg, a Kansas Gas employee, says he was conducting an overnight call for service on Ratone Street and parked his company truck at the curb. He says he started the white Ford F250 to warm it up and grabbed his tools to continue working. When he heard the $40,000 truck being driven away, he called police and a report was filed.
A short time later at 4 AM, a deputy with the Pottawatomie County Sheriff’s Office spotted the stolen truck near the intersection of Hayes Drive and McCall Road, about 15 blocks from where it was stolen.
The man behind the wheel, 20-year-old Charles Melton, was arrested and charged with Driving Under the Influence of Drugs or Alcohol. Police say Melton was intoxicated. The Riley County Police Department also arrested Melton and charged him with Theft of a Motor Vehicle.