Haunted Highways: Truckers shares scary stories from the road.
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC) – Driving trucks loaded with packages is becoming more dangerous on the streets of Memphis after a pair of heists Tuesday.
“They say this is a regular occurrence,” said Robert Kwasniewski, a long-distance truck driver.
Truck drivers say it’s scary and it’s becoming normal for them to be robbed in Memphis.
Tuesday, around noon, Memphis police reported an armed robbery of a FedEx truck on Winchester Road.
Police said four men in all-black, wearing ski masks, took several packages off the truck.
Just a few hours later, just before 4:30 p.m., MPD reported a theft from a UPS truck on Summer Avenue, where three men, also wearing all-black, made off with more packages.
Kwasniewski said he stopped at a gas station on Lamar Avenue recently and became a victim of theft.
“Open the door to get out, and I see a guy run from the back of my trailer with a box in his hands. I’m like, ‘Man, what are y’all doing?’” said Kwasniewski.
He said the men stole over 30 boxes from his truck, which now has him second-guessing stopping in Memphis, which is usually on his normal route from Michigan to Arkansas or Louisiana.
“It’s a shame and it is scary, but I am not coming through Memphis anymore, and I’m not even going to stop,” he said. “Which puts us as truck drivers in a bad position because coming from Michigan going West, you exactly run out of time right on the border, right before you get to Arkansas you are going to run out of time.”
UPS sent this statement in response to Tuesday’s incident.
FedEx shared this statement with Action News 5 about the armed robbery of their truck Tuesday:
“The safety of our team members and the security of our customers’ shipments are top priorities, and we are grateful there were no serious injuries as a result of this incident on Winchester Road this afternoon. We are fully cooperating with Memphis Police as they investigate.”
Tuesday’s heists are not the first time we’ve seen this kind of crime.
In November, there was an ambush on a FedEx truck on Riverport Road and West Mallory Avenue.
CrimeStoppers is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to arrests in this heist.
Memphis Police said they are not sure if all these incidents are related.
New Mayor Paul Young has said he will work to look at crimes happening and the data to identify who is responsible and if those same people are re-committing the same crimes.