Ohio man accused of stealing truck with sleeping teen inside due in court this week

A Clinton County man is scheduled to be court this week on multiple felony charges accusing him of stealing a truck with a sleeping teenager inside, then crashing that truck after the teenager was able to escape.

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Anthony Rucker, 36, of Cuba, Ohio, remains in the Fayette County Jail on charges of motor vehicle theft, failure to comply with the order or signal of a police officer, felonious assault, kidnapping and drug possession, Sheriff Vernon Stanforth said in a social media post. A preliminary hearing for Rucker is scheduled for this week, according to the sheriff’s office.

Here’s what happened:

On July 13, the owner of a 2023 Toyota Tundra called sheriff’s dispatch at 12:52 p.m. to report that his truck -- in which his 15-year-old child was asleep -- had been stolen from the TravelCenters of America, at the state Route 435 and I-71 interchange, according to the preliminary investigation by the sheriff’s office.

The teenager called 9-1-1 from inside the truck as deputies were being dispatched. Dispatchers said they could hear the juvenile asking the suspect to let her go.

About 1 p.m., the teenager, still speaking with the dispatch center, said she got out of the truck when the suspect stopped. She said she didn’t know where she was. Off-duty sheriff’s Lt. Matt Weidman located the teenager a short time later, in the 4000 block of Palmer Road, and alerted dispatch the teenager was safe.

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Dispatch alerted deputies that the truck was headed north on Palmer, toward the Village of Milledgeville. Deputy Tylan Martin encountered the truck on state Route 729 near Milledgeville and tried to stop it, but the suspect continued north of 729. The deputy pursued the truck across state Route 435 onto Bluegrass Parkway, where the vehicles collided near the L-H Battery (Honda) construction area. The suspect, identified as Rucker, was taken into custody.

Rucker and Martin were treated at Adena Fayette Medical Center for minor injuries and released.

On July 16 in Washington Municipal Court, Rucker was ordered held without bond pending a preliminary hearing scheduled for next week. He has warrants for his arrest pending in Highland and Clermont counties, according to the sheriff’s office.

The juvenile was unharmed and reunited with parents.

The Fayette County Prosecutor’s Office will review the case and determine whether additional charges are warranted, Sheriff Stanforth said.