Police say that man who drove a 40 ton truck over an 8 ton bridge also stole the truck
Pennsylvania State Police say that they arrested a New Jersey man for a variety of violations after he drove an overweight truck over a bridge earlier this week.
Police arrested 50 year old New Jersey resident Richard C. Smith Jr. in the early morning hours on June 8 in Lower Mount Bethel Township, according to reporting from local news outlet WFMZ.
The incident began when Pennsylvania State Police were dispatched to the Riverton–Belvidere Bridge (also known as the Belvidere Free Bridge) for reports of an overweight truck crossing the bridge.
When police arrived on the scene, they determined that Smith had driven the approximately 40 ton truck across the marked 8 ton bridge.
In addition to the overweight violation, police also discovered that Smith did not have a CDL.
Smith told officers that he had gotten the truck from his wife from a trucking terminal near Philadelphia.
Police later learned that Smith is not married, had no reason to be driving the truck, and that the semi truck had been stolen from a truck lot in the Philadelphia area. Authorities also said that he was listed as a “missing and endangered person” in a database.
Smith now faces felony charges of theft and receiving stolen property in addition to traffic offenses.
Smith was not the first person to find himself in hot water for driving a truck over the bridge.
The photo below was shared on social media in September 2019.
The bridge was built in 1904 and underwent a nearly $9 million renovation in 2006.