Someone stole an 18-wheeler and tried to ‘hot-wire’ another, cops say

A cold snap gripping the South may have saved one 18-wheeler from being taken from a Conway-area business early Monday morning, according to an Horry County police report.

Officers were called about the theft of an 18-wheeler about 2 a.m. at a business on French Collins Road in the Conway area. Police spoke with an owner who told them his employees parked two 18-wheelers Saturday afternoon, but early Monday morning, workers said one truck was missing and another broken into, the report states.

The remaining truck “had the dash ripped out” and it looked as though someone tried to “hot-wire” it, according to authorities.

The burglarized truck has trouble starting up on cold nights, the owner reported, and it was believed “that the suspect must (have) ... attempted to take this truck and was not able to, so they went to the other truck and took that one,” the report states.

The missing truck was described as a 2006 Freightliner 18-wheeler with “Raw Hide Trucking” on its doors. The truck also has a trailer full of logs attached to it, police said.

Authorities gathered evidence at the scene, and entered the truck as stolen in their information systems.

This story was originally published December 11, 2017 at 9:40 AM with the headline "Someone stole an 18-wheeler and tried to ‘hot-wire’ another, cops say."