GUSTAVUS Vandals put stolen truck at work site

There has been frequent vandalism at the job site.
By STEPHEN SIFF
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
GUSTAVUS -- A stolen fuel tanker truck smashed through the "road closed" barricade at a bridge construction project on Stoddard Hayes Road, hanging over the edge of a 20-foot drop before coming to a rest, rear wheels in the air.
The motor was still running and the wheels were still turning when workers for the Trumbull County engineer's office arrived at the job site at about 7:30 a.m. Tuesday, said highway supervisor Jim DiCenso.
The truck's cab door was open, but the driver was nowhere to be found, he said. The tanker was empty of fuel.
The abandoned truck Tuesday was just the latest in a string of theft and vandalism at a job site surrounded by nothing but farmland and fields.
Earlier
In the three weeks since workers began replacing a bridge with a box culvert one mile south of state Route 87, portable toilets have been tipped over nightly and twice dumped into the creek; flashing lights have been stolen; and a barricade to prevent cars from driving over the edge was removed.
Workers at the site have been doing without a portable toilet for the last week, said Chris Connelly, county highway superintendent.
The fuel truck discovered this morning had been reported stolen from DLB Fuels in Ashtabula County, and the Ashtabula County Sheriff's Department is handling the investigation, local officials say.
"For a quiet little community like Gustavus, they have not been quiet the last night or two," DiCenso said.
There had been no arrests by Tuesday evening. Work at the site is expected to continue until July 25.