KITSAP COUNTY, Wash. — Law enforcement in Kitsap County are looking for someone who stole an Amazon delivery van while the driver was dropping off a package at a Port Orchard home.
The driver was injured while he tried to stop the van thief.
Rusty, who is contracted by Amazon, said he had just placed a package on the porch of a home on Salmonberry Road Monday afternoon when he heard someone get in his van parked at the front of the driveway.
“I have not run in 20 years,” said Rusty, who asked not to have his last name published. “But I made it across that yard in a second and a half.”
Rusty said he managed to get in the van’s side entrance before the thief “punched it.”
Rusty fell out of the van onto the pavement. Most of the right side of his body suffered bruises.
”I can’t brush my hair right now with my right hand,” said Rusty.
A Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson said the crime was organized, likely involving several people.
The van was driven to a nearby vacant lot where a witness told police she saw a woman helping a man move packages from the Amazon truck to a U-Haul van.
The U-Haul van was found abandoned later that afternoon.
Detectives are working with Amazon to obtain video surveillance from the company’s delivery van.
“We’re relieved to know the driver is alright and supporting him as he recovers. We’re working with law enforcement officials as they investigate this terrible incident." said an Amazon spokesperson.
Rusty said he remembered seeing a U-Haul van following him before the theft.
Though he regrets going after the thief, the 66-year-old retired member of the U.S. Army and longtime semi-truck driver said he felt violated when the man tried taking his van.
”Primal instinct: It’s mine, not yours. That was all my responsibility. I’m old enough where I take my responsibility kind of serious,” said Rusty.