28.08.2013
Stolen bucket truck cuts electric
A man stole a bucket truck/aerial lift from the Queens depot of New York’s Metropolitan Transit Authority yesterday and on the drive home the raised boom ripped out a number of overhead power lines and poles, cutting electricity to over 6,000 people in Queens and Long Island.
Nassau County police say MTA employee Joel Grasman, 51, broke into the yard at around 3 a.m, apparently to steal a generator, but then set off for his home in Elmont, Long Island in the bucket truck. After knocking down numerous poles and a traffic lights on the way, the truck came to a stop and Grasman fled the scene. He was eventually picked up, and charged.
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The boom truck after the driver abandoned it
According to the Police Grasman has a long criminal history involving theft, drugs and alcohol and faces a number of charges including, criminal mischief, intentional damage to property and reckless damage to property. Police have said that alcohol was not a factor.
Sherm
If the report is valid I hope this dude gets his just deserve in prison. Perhaps a good person needing this work and better qualified will get his job. What a PITA this is for management of MTA. If he was a union member he sure made a bad name for union member workers.