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PROVO -- A Provo man's attempt to get his truck out of an impound yard, by trying to negotiate, has landed him in jail.
The man was apparently desperate to get the truck out of the impound yard because it belonged to his mom.
He offered to trade his car for the truck because he didn't have any cash. When the impound yard said no, he tried to drive the truck away.
The incident happened Tuesday at the impound yard at 736 Columbia Lane in Provo.
The truck had been impounded Monday night after it was found to be parked at an apartment complex and was blocking a driveway.
The driver, 20-year-old Shelby Tripp, showed up Tuesday morning, and when his offer to trade vehicles until he could come up with the cash was refused, police say he got in the impounded truck and struck a worker with the bumper. He suffered minor injuries.
Another worker tried to close the gate but had to jump out of the way to avoid the driver, which sped away in the truck.
He was tracked down with the license plate information an hour later.
Police say Tripp's attempt to take the law into his own hands has resulted in possible felony charges. Provo police Sgt. Matt Siufanua said, "If you have a problem and feel you are justified, probably the best thing to do is to get the police involved, and so we can act to keep the peace there and share some information we have about the situation. But he made the mistake of thinking he had the right to take the vehicle, which he didn't, and so he took the vehicle and is going to face the consequences for it."
Tripp was taken to the Utah County jail on suspicion of theft of services for not paying the impound fee and aggravated assault for striking the worker with the truck.
Tripp has since bailed out of jail. Formal charges against him are still pending.
E-mail: spenrod@ksl.com
