Masked bandit on the run after jumping onto driver causing truck to drive into lamp post

The Gonzales Police Department in Louisiana say a masked bandit is on the loose after leaping into a garbage truck and causing a crash.



In the early hours of Christmas Eve morning, officers were dispatched to a parking lot in reference to an accident involving a garbage truck that had hit a lamp post. A driver with a local garbage collection service had picked up and unloaded a garbage container at Verizon Wireless.

As the driver backed away from the trash receptacle and went to move forward, a large raccoon jumped in the front of his cab and came to rest on his chest and legs. Terrified, the driver stood up in the cab of the truck, attempting to get the raccoon off of him. In doing so, he stepped on the gas pedal, which caused the truck to lurch forward, hitting the light pole.



Upon hitting the pole, the driver jumped out of the truck and stated that the raccoon crawled out of the cab before running behind an adjacent building. Fortunately, the driver was uninjured, but the truck was severely damaged and unable to be driven. The driver was not issued a ticket. The raccoon is still at large with an active warrant pending, police say.