Police in Oklahoma City used less-lethal force on Friday to arrest a man accused of stealing an Amazon delivery truck. The suspect ended up stuck on railroad tracks in southwest OKC—just as a train was bearing down.
Officers arrested 43-year-old Melvin Bishop, who remains in custody at the Oklahoma County Detention Center.
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The bizarre incident happened near Southwest 29th and Portland Avenue. A stolen Amazon truck was lodged on the tracks with a train only feet away. Police said the theft began near Southwest 49th and Pennsylvania Avenue, where the driver was making her usual rounds.
“The driver indicated she was making a delivery in the area when an unknown person jumped inside the vehicle,” said Sgt. Dillon Quirk with the Oklahoma City Police Department. “Took off with the truck.”
The driver tried to stop the man but failed and called 911. Using Flock cameras via the Real Time Information Center, officers tracked the truck. Bishop eventually drove it onto the tracks, where it became stuck.
“Officers tried to remove that person from the vehicle,” Quirk said. “He simply refused to get out.”
The Amazon driver stood nearby as officers deployed two rounds of less-lethal force to get Bishop to surrender.
“There was some less-lethal gas that was put into that truck to get him to come out,” Quirk explained. “Ultimately, he was taken into custody and booked into the county jail on larceny of motor vehicle charges.”
The truck was towed from the tracks, and Bishop was taken to a hospital for medical clearance before being booked.
He later told officers he didn’t get out of the truck because he didn’t know how to open the door of the electric vehicle.
