Man found sleeping in stolen pick-up truck

A Florida man found sleeping in the parking lot of a Walmart in Jupiter was arrested for the theft of a truck on Friday.

A caller advised police that the truck's driver was passed out behind the wheel of the truck, which was still running in its parking space. An officer arrived and found 25-year-old Robert Hardister, from Stuart, sleeping with his head on the steering wheel of a 1998 Ford F-150 truck, which had been identified as stolen.



The officer opened the truck door, removed the keys from the ignition, awakened Hardister and had him step to the rear of the vehicle where he was arrested. Hardister told police he paid a friend $20 to borrow the truck so he could move some furniture to his new apartment later in the evening.

He said he was trying to catch a couple of hours of sleep in the parking lot before going to work one of his construction projects in the area, according to Jupiter police. Hardister told the officer he was unaware the truck was stolen. He is charged with Grand Theft of an automobile.