Copper thief fills truck with wire. Then it gets stuck in the mud, Utah police say

It may have been the slowest getaway in history.

Utah County sheriff’s deputies called to investigate copper thefts in Spanish Fork Canyon found Travis Klett, 32, with a flatbed truck full of wire “badly stuck” in the mud, the Gephardt Daily reported.

The Springville, Utah, man appeared in court Tuesday to face charges of theft, criminal mischief and trespassing in the March 27 incident, the Deseret News reported.

Union Pacific workers had called deputies to report a lock on a gate had been cut and a flatbed truck had been spotted near the railroad tracks in the canyon, KSTU reported.

“The flatbed truck was badly stuck in mud and the suspect, who is the owner of the truck, was trying to get it out,” wrote sheriff’s officials in a statement, the Gephardt Daily reported. The wire, which had been strung along the tracks, was worth an estimated $500, officials said.

Klett denied cutting down the wire and told deputies he was cleaning up the canyon for a nonprofit agency, the Deseret News reported. He said he’d found a spool of wire beside the road and planned to sell it for cash, according to the publication.

This story was originally published April 3, 2019 at 2:35 PM with the headline "Copper thief fills truck with wire. Then it gets stuck in the mud, Utah police say."