Man steals truck in front of workers while chased by officer with gun drawn, witnesses say

May 2024 · 3 minute read

LYNCHBURG, Va. (WSET) — Landscape workers in Lynchburg witnessed a harrowing situation on Tuesday, when they saw a man jump into their truck and drive it away.

ABC13 was at the scene of a crash at the Odd Fellows Road exit on the Lynchburg Expressway, where our crew saw a white pickup that had eventually ended up perched on top of the guardrail.

But the crash scene was only the end of the incident. Witnesses at the Wendy's at 2109 Wards Road said the truck had been stolen from them right just before noon, right before their eyes.

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A worker with 9 Yards LawnCare and Landscaping spoke to ABC13 about the experience. Their crew had been doing work at the Wendy's when they saw a police officer pursuing a man, and the officer had his gun drawn, the worker said.

"We seen an officer coming at a guy with a pistol and telling him to stop and he didn’t stop," said worker Ola Williams. "We thought the officer was going to discharge, but he didn’t, thankfully. But anyway, like we said he took off in our truck. We couldn’t do anything in time to stop him.”

Then the fleeing man jumped into the landscaping pickup truck and drove away as they watched. Willaims said he knew it wouldn't end well as soon as the man jumped into the truck.

"I told the cops that I knew it was going to be bad just the way that he pulled off," Williams said. "He pulled off, as soon as he got in he hit it went over the curbs, didn’t go through the light or anything he went straight over the curbs just hit it just gunned it."

The truck was towing some of their equipment, like a trailer with a lawn mower on the back, when it took off.

The chase soon ended, with the landscaping truck visibly damaged after crashing on the Expressway's guardrail. What appears to be two lawn mowers on the back trailer ended up flying into a nearby creek during the impact

The Lynchburg Police Department released information about the crash later in the afternoon, identifying the man as 38-year-old Arthur Leroy Gibson.

Police said the incident started while police were responding to the report of a stolen Volvo sedan that was spotted driving on Timberlake Road.

It wasn't long before officers tracked down the stolen car in the parking lot of Koto Japanese Steakhouse, LPD said.

"When officers approached the vehicle, the driver, later identified as Arthur Leroy Gibson, 38, of Lynchburg abandoned it and fled on foot into the parking lot of Wendy's Restaurant," LPD said in a release. "Gibson then proceeded to steal an unoccupied and running vehicle, a Dodge Pickup with a utility trailer and fled in it."

Police said they chased Gibson down Wards Road, Candlers Mountain Road, and onto the Expressway headed North before the crash near the Odd Fellows Road exit.

That's where LPD took him into custody, they said.

Now Gibson faces these charges, according to police:

LPD said he is being held at the Blue Ridge Regional Jail without bond.

Anyone with information about this incident is asked to contact the Lynchburg Police Department at (434) 455-6041.

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