Truck driver Marvin Cooper says he wasn’t making enough money at Marten Transport, so he decided to look for another job. He says when he found a new job, Marten Transport lashed out in spite.
Last week, Cooper picked up his truck at the company’s Tucker, Georgia location and set off for a delivery in Illinois. While en route, Cooper got a call offering him a position at another company. Cooper accepted the position, then called his boss to let them know he would be resigning.
Cooper says his boss told him to stop the truck and leave it.
“They wanted me to stop their truck, get out their truck, (but) if I do that, it’s abandonment,” Cooper told WSBTV.
Cooper knew that abandoning a truck could hurt his career in trucking, so he told his boss he would deliver the load as planned.
“I’m taking their truck back to Tucker, Ga., I’m getting in my vehicle and I’m gone,” Cooper told WSBTV.
Just outside of Bowling Green, Kentucky, on his way back to Georgia, Cooper says police cruisers surrounded him and pulled him over and ordered him to get out of the truck.
According to WSBTV, Marten reported the truck stolen.
A police officer told Cooper he was in possession of a stolen truck.
Cooper is being charged with two counts of possessing stolen property.
Cooper told WSBTV that he believes the company reported the truck stolen out of spite.
A Kentucky grand jury will meet next week to decide if there’s enough evidence to indict Cooper on the charges.
CDLLife attempted to reach Marten for a comment, but our calls were not returned.