Car thief ignores road closure sign and careens into hole made by landslide
Some signs are there for a reason.
A car thief on a remote road in Oregon got a nasty shock over the weekend when they removed a closure sign and cruised into a hole.
Authorities were called to the scene of an upside-down car on fire shortly before 8:30 a.m. Sunday, the Tillamook County Sheriff’s Office said.
The driver — and supposed thief — fled prior to the officers’ arrival.
“The road has been closed for some time, but they removed the barrier and Road Closed signs and drove directly into the hole,” Sheriff’s Deputy Ben Berger explained.
A photo showed the vehicle upside down and looking slightly charred.
The portion of the road where the car flipped was partly disintegrated as a result of a landslide in December, KATU said.
“This has been an ongoing problem, with people removing the barriers and driving on the closed portion of the road. Obviously, it is extremely dangerous,” Berger added.
The car’s owner called 911 about an hour after the crash to report that the vehicle had been stolen sometime in the early morning, the sheriff’s office said.
The owner’s home is about five miles from the crash site.
Both the theft and the crash remain under investigation, the authorities noted.
Berger was not immediately available to comment on the investigation to The Post.
