Big Rig Driver Hits Hydrant, Leaves 25-Foot Gusher, Gets Arrested For DUI
On Christmas Day, an alert Vacaville citizen called 911 dispatchers to report that an eighteen-wheel semi-truck had knocked a fire hydrant off its moorings. When the big rig left the scene, a 25-foot geyser of water was shooting skyward.
Vacaville P.D. officers responding observed a big rig turning off of Nut Tree Road onto Elmira Road. The truck’s license plate number matched that called in by a witness. Stopping the truck, the officers contacted the driver, Preston Wade Thomas, 34, a resident of Texas.
Thomas admitted that it was his truck that had struck the fire hydrant. He also acknowledged that, after launching the geyser of water, he had fled the scene of the accident in his very noticeable vehicle. Subsequently the responding officers determined that Thomas had been driving under the influence at the time of the accident.
The officers then took Thomas into custody and he was subsequently booked into Solano County Jail for driving a large commercial vehicle while under the influence.
Vacaville police said in a press release that they wished to thank the alert citizen-witness who had the presence of mind to record the wandering vehicle’s license plate number. This witness enabled the police officers to remove a potentially dangerous driver from the roadways and perhaps prevented deaths, injuries or property damage.
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Daily Republic: Christmas geyser leads to DUI arrest
