Man wanted by police asks chief for a ride

A man on the run from police, wanted for breaking into a pickup truck, ran right into them in Salisbury.

Police said 21-year-old Joseph Dastous is one of the world’s dumbest crooks.

"Usually they run from you,” Chief Richard Merrill said. “In this case it's the first time in my life, in 33 years of police work, they run towards me."

It started on John and Donna Sanborn's farm, where Dastous allegedly tried to steal their truck.

"I grabbed hold of him with my left hand, hit him with my right and pulled him out of the truck," John Sanborn said.

Dastous ran away, across the field and toward the highway where Chief Merrill, driving his unmarked cruiser, spotted the suspect and pulled over.

"He thought it was actually someone stopping to give him a ride,” Merrill said. “I did get out of the vehicle, and he started shouting thank you, sir, thank you."

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Dastous actually jumped into the back seat of the cruiser before realizing he'd just made a big mistake.

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"He looked up at me and he said, 'You look familiar.' I said I should look familiar. I'm the chief of police," Merrill said.

Back at the farm, the Sanborns were relieved to hear he was arrested and a little surprised.

"I thought it was pretty good. I didn't expect it to be that easy," Sanborn said.