CHESTERFIELD, Va. -- Robbie Peden calls it one of the biggest mistakes of his life. Monday afternoon Peden left his 1999 Ford Diesel running outside at the 7-11 at Jeff Davis and Woods Edge Road.
"I always stop in, run in, get me a Sprite Big Gulp," Peden said. “That was my mistake for leaving the keys in it."
He was paying for his drink when he sees his truck start rolling.
“I ran out the door and when I hollered he seen me and he punched it, floored and took off and heads towards the interstate,” Peden said.
The theft was caught on camera.
Peden has spent the last three years of changing his life around, a process which he said proudly includes his four-month old son and girlfriend of two years.
It also includes the lawn care business he started to supplement his disability check.
"If it wasn't for my lawn care, I wouldn't be able to take care of my two kids and pay my bills,” he said.
More than a decade ago, Peden was hit by a softball while running to first base.
He was hit with a softball on his temple, and he said it crushed his face and got two steel plates inserted. The event caused seizures, Peden said.
With his lawn care business growing, he bought his truck about six months ago and attached to it a small trailer and all his equipment and tools.
"Everything that I've done the last three or four years, just got taken from me,” he said.
The suspect was also filmed walking across Jeff Davis, picking up a bike and riding it into the 7-11 parking lot. He gets off the bike and causally walks to the pickup and takes off.
"Never ran or nothing, walked and got in the truck like it was his and took off,” Peden said.
Chesterfield County Police said the pickup was recovered Tuesday afternoon, but without a trailer and equipment.
A suspect is in custody with charges pending.
For Peden, the truck recovery is good but he needs his equipment.
"Now I've got my kids, I've met somebody cares about me and I'm trying to grow up and it all got taken from me."
Chesterfield County Police ask if you have any information about the missing equipment to call Crime Solvers at 748-0660.
