Big Rig Runs Away After Driver Hops Out of Cab to Grab a Whataburger

SAN ANGELO, TX — A hungry truck driver wanted a Whataburger this morning, so he pulled up his rig, a truck tractor pulling a semi-trailer, and parked it in the 200 block of W. 18th St. on the east side of Bryant, facing west. After parking, the driver told police he was walking to Whataburger when he realized his truck was rolling, and rolling fast, towards a busy Bryant Blvd.

The driver successfully made it to the middle of Bryant and began directing traffic to avoid his rig as it barrowed across the roadway. It was too late to try to catch it and attempt to hop into the cab to access the rig’s brakes.

The runaway truck traveled across the northbound lanes of N. Bryant until the tractor wedged itself into a concrete drainage ditch in the middle of the median between the north and southbound lanes, stopping the rig’s forward momentum. The rear of the semi-trailer blocked the inside, northbound lanes of Bryant.

San Angelo Police Department Traffic Investigator Bradshaw said he is unsure what citations will apply to the incident, if any. If you follow the crash incidents in San Angelo, you may recall that another 18-wheeler ended up in the ditch near this location on Monday. That story is here.

Bradshaw said the Home Motors wreckers will be working the rest of Wednesday morning to remove the 18-wheeler from the roadways. The incident happened just after 9 a.m. Wednesday.