A truck driver getting his late-night cup of coffee ended up stopping a police chase with his truck in Missouri on Wednesday night.
The incident occurred on September 26th at around 11:00 p.m. in Springfield, Missouri.
According to KY3 News, truck driver Derek Cook was just pulling out of the Kum and Go convenience store on Kearney Street and Delaware Avenue after getting a cup of coffee when he saw police pursuing a vehicle heading his way.
“As I was pulling out, sitting there at the signal, waiting to make my turn, here come the bad guys… Being chased by the Springfield PD and State Patrol… I thought I would just pull out there and put a whoa on it,” he said.
So that’s what he did. Cook pulled out into the intersection and stopped, leaving his trailer blocking the roadway.
“Around about two seconds later, he [the motorist] hit my truck and I felt a little push… Then it swung him around to the curb and he waited there for two or three seconds. Then, got out there and ran.”
Police were eventually able to catch up to the suspect, 18-year-old Malachi Okonu and arrested him on multiple counts of robbery and resisting arrest. He is currently being held on $50,000 bond.
Cook says that his big rig sustained some minor damage in the incident, but that he was happy to help regardless.
“Part of his automobile hit this seal on my hub,” Cook said.
“It spun him around and he tore up my tire…. [But] police are my heroes.”
It is not clear whether Cook will receive any help paying for repairs from the police department.
