Published: 03.04.2008
Driver bails from truck with bed full of pot

Tucson Citizen
While pursued by Border Patrol agents, a driver bailed from a pickup on the South Side on Saturday, sending the truck careening into two other vehicles, an agency spokesman said.
No one was injured, though two cars were damaged, Agent Mike Scioli said. It was the third time in two weeks that a suspected smuggler jumped from a vehicle, leaving it in gear, Citizen archives show.
Agents tried to pull over the truck earlier near Milepost 291 on Interstate 10, east of town, because there were indications the vehicle was being used to transport drugs, Scioli said.
When the agents turned on their lights and sirens, the pickup tried to flee, getting off at the Palo Verde and Irvington roads exit, he said.
The driver leapt from the cab near the intersection of East 22nd Street and South Wilmot Road, Scioli said. He and a passenger were arrested near the scene of the collision.
More than 1,000 pounds of marijuana, worth more than $800,000, were found under a piece of plywood in the bed of the truck, Scioli said.
CARLI BROSSEAU
http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/daily/local/78564.php