The Truckload Carriers Association’s (TCA) latest Highway Angel is Lonnie Davis, a professional truck driver for Hostess Brands/IBC Trucking, LLC, of Columbus, Georgia. Davis reported something suspicious to authorities, and this information led to the capture of two alleged criminals.
Around February 15, 2010, Davis was traveling on I-75 south of Gainesville, Florida, when he noticed two men climbing over a wildlife barrier fence that stretched for miles along the highway. Thinking that was a bit odd, he continued for another seven or eight miles and then passed several police cars parked on the shoulder. An officer was using a dog to sniff along the fence, apparently looking for something.
Davis now suspected that the authorities might be looking for the two men, so he called 911 from his truck and reported what he had seen. He described what the men were wearing and provided details about their location. He was connected to a deputy, who asked if he would be willing to stop for a few minutes to take officers to the exact spot. Davis agreed, pulled over and waited to be picked up, but meanwhile word came that the men had already been captured, in exactly the location that Davis described.
“I was told that the men had carjacked someone, shots had been fired, and the men had been running from the law all night,” said Davis. “I’m glad they didn’t escape justice.”
The Alachua County Sheriff’s office says that the information Davis provided was the reason they were able to capture the two fugitives. In fact, Sheriff Sadie Darnell was so grateful for Davis’ assistance that she later presented him with an award of recognition for helping to make the community a safer place.
For his alert thinking, Davis, a veteran trucker with nearly 50 years on the road, received a Highway Angel lapel pin, certificate, and patch. TCA also gave Hostess Brands/IBC Trucking, LLC, a certificate acknowledging that one of its drivers is a Highway Angel.