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Trucker: 'I just didn't want to be robbed'

MCARTHUR, Ohio — A truck driver told authorities he woke up to see diesel being siphoned from his rig by another trucker, so he jumped in the man's cab and they tussled as the tractor-trailer was rolling.

Carl Wilson, the driver charged with theft of $600 of diesel, said Wednesday that he never touched the other truck and the whole thing was a misunderstanding.

Mike Ebert, 37, called 911 on his cell phone Sunday when he woke from a nap in his truck at a convenience store in southeast Ohio, and reported that he saw a hose running between his diesel tank and the truck driven by Wilson.

As the two struggled in Wilson's truck, it rolled to a stop in a ditch on the side of the road, and sheriff's deputies soon arrived. Vinton County Sheriff Dave Hickey said neither was injured.

Wilson, 49, of Chillicothe, said he will plead not guilty.

"He (Ebert) jumped in my truck. And I thought I was being robbed because he was shirtless and belligerent," Wilson said. "I told him he could have my money, I just didn't want to be robbed."