AVONDALE -- Avondale police officers are investigating an armed robbery and kidnapping after the driver of an 18-wheeler said he was held at gunpoint and tied up inside his truck Tuesday morning.
According to Detective Reuben Gonzales with the Avondale Police Department, the semitruck driver was on his way from California to Mesa to drop off the trailer at a Best Buy distribution center.
After driving nonstop, he pulled over at the Pilot Truck Stop at Roosevelt Street and 99th Avenue to take a short break at approximately 5:30 a.m.
The driver reportedly returned to his truck and was approached by a man armed with a handgun who forced him to drive the semi to an industrial complex just south of the area while a U-Haul-type box truck followed behind.
Gonzales said the driver was tied up inside the cab of his 18-wheeler. The suspects unloaded the semi's contents into their truck then left in an unknown direction. The exact contents inside the trailer are still being determined.
The driver was not harmed and the semitruck and trailer were not taken.
The armed suspect is described as a 30-year-old black male. There is no description of the other suspect.
The case is still under investigation.
