The Orange County Criminal Lawyer Blog
While a semi-truck carrying wine was moving down the highway, a man in his underpants allegedly jumped on board and shimmied underneath where he reportedly opened a valve and began drinking the vino as it spilled out.
On May 5, a Cherokee Freight Lines trucker carrying a sizeable tank of red wine was making his way down Highway 99 near Modesto, California when a vehicle pulled in front of him with its emergency flashers turned on, and the driver flagged him down to get him to stop.
The driver thought there might be something wrong with his truck, so he came to a halt on the shoulder of the road in an attempt to find out what was going on.
As depicted in a video recorded from the semi’s dashcam, a man without shoes and wearing only underwear got out of the car, and then quickly disappeared from the truck driver’s sight.
The semi-driver decided to continue down the highway, and the footage showed the scantily clad suspect hopping onto the back of the moving truck and grabbing ahold of the side.
When the man appeared to have a firm grasp he reportedly wiggled beneath the tanker and allegedly opened a valve causing the red wine to spill as the truck traveled down the road.
The suspect, identified as 39-year-old Gabriel Moreno, has been accused of taking advantage of the free-flowing vino by drinking from the valve runoff while clinging to the bottom side of the semi.
The driver, who has controls in the truck to show the pressure levels inside the tank, noticed something seemed off as the pressure seemed to be dropping. The driver pulled over to inspect the situation.
When he reached the site of the leak the driver reportedly discovered Moreno affixed under the truck and still allegedly enjoying the wine.
Moreno was taken into custody by California Highway Patrol officers, and he is expected to face charges for suspicion of vandalism, and driving on a suspended license.
The company reported a loss of 1,000 gallons of wine due to the incident.
If you or someone you love is suspected of a crime, contact Orange County criminal defense lawyer Staycie R. Sena at (949) 477-8088 for a consultation now.