MEXICO – A few years ago, someone stole a backhoe from Archie’s Inc. and went on a joy ride with it, throwing empty beer cans out the window and stopping for a cup of coffee at Dunkin’ Donuts before being arrested.

This time, it was a garbage truck. In the wee hours of Friday morning, someone stole one of Archie’s Inc. garbage collection trucks, and the business owner wants it back.

Police Sgt. Roy Hodsdon said Archie’s owners reported the huge vehicle missing at 7 a.m. Friday. It was last seen at 6 p.m. the night before.

He said the Mexico Police Department has two suspects based on evidence discovered in a mid-1990s red Jeep pickup truck discovered in the gravel pit located behind Archie’s Inc. on River Road.

Tim Smith, shop foreman for Archie’s, said the pickup apparently crashed through the cable gate accessed from River Road then went down the gravel pit road.

“The license plate was near the gate, and both doors of the pickup truck were wide open. It was full of empty beer cans. The registration was still in the truck,” said Smith.

Missing is a 1999 white Freightliner garbage collection truck, with a replacement value of about $100,000, said Smith. The truck had been parked on the side of Archie’s parking lot. Archie’s Inc. is printed on the door, and the number 70 is painted on the front side of the hood in black.

Officers and Archie’s employees searched for the stolen truck all day Friday and over the weekend. Hodsdon said a private plane was used in the search on Friday, with no results.

“I’ve never known of a garbage truck stolen,” said Hodsdon.

Hodsdon said the theft is related to a hit-and-run that happened the night before around 8:30 p.m. when the red pickup crashed into an Archie’s Dumpster located in the parking lot of the Far East Restaurant on Main Street. The red truck found in the gravel pit had front end damage valued at about $1,800.

Hodsdon believes the driver and a passenger, both adult males, are responsible for both the Dumpster hit-and-run and the garbage collection truck theft. He said the two suspects cannot be identified because the case is under investigation.

Smith said the thieves can’t have gotten far because the garbage truck had very little fuel.

“They must have ditched it somewhere,” he said.

Anyone with information on the whereabouts of the 1999 Freightliner truck can call the Mexico Police Department at 364-5686.

Officer Chuck Beale is investigating the garbage truck theft. Officer Dean Benson is investigating the Dumpster hit-and-run.