He left his truck running, and it wound up in a creek

An opportunistic thief drove off with a pickup truck in southeast Wichita early Tuesday morning, but didn’t get far, according to Wichita police.

Sgt. Nikki Woodrow said a 1999 Dodge Ram 1500 – which was running at the time – was stolen while in the 3100 block of South George Washington Boulevard at about 4:30 a.m. on Tuesday.

The truck, Woodrow said, was spotted minutes after the call near George Washington and Oliver.

While attempting to elude police, Woodrow said the truck thief drove through a chain-link fence outside a business in the 2800 block of South Hillside before ending up in Gypsum Creek.

The suspect, a 36-year-old man, was treated for minor injuries, arrested and booked into jail on suspicion of numerous charges, including auto theft, destruction of property and an aggravated weapons violation.

This story was originally published January 3, 2017 at 12:40 PM with the headline "He left his truck running, and it wound up in a creek."