BY DAVID ECK
Enquirer Contributor
FRANKLIN -- Police are searching for a man who swam away from a stolen Dodge pickup truck after it fell into the Great Miami River during a police chase early Wednesday.
The incident began shortly after midnight when a Franklin police officer tried to stop the truck after the driver ran a traffic light at Sixth and Main streets. The officer chased the driver westbound on Sixth Street and over the river to a parking lot, before the man turned around. The suspect was driving over a levee when he lost control and the truck fell into the river, Franklin Police Captain Gerry Massey said.
In a police report, officers said the suspect, a man wearing a light-colored T-shirt and shorts, jumped out of the vehicle before it went into the water. But he was later seen swimming away.
It is not known whether the suspect was injured in the accident or if he was alone in the truck, Capt. Massey said. No one was found in the vehicle when it was pulled from the water. Police officers examining the truck suffered small cuts from broken glass.
Firefighters searched in the river, but no one was found.
"We searched about a half-mile stretch of the Miami River last night," Capt. Massey said.
The truck was reported stolen from Middletown on Monday and it had license plates that were stolen from Preble County. The stolen plates will make it difficult to track the driver, Capt. Massey said. Police are waiting for the truck to dry out before examining it for clues to the driver's identity.
The investigation is continuing.
