Truck driver fired via text allegedly dumped corn on highway

ODELL, Neb., Nov. 22 (UPI) -- A Pennsylvania truck driver was arrested for allegedly dumping nearly 1,000 bushels of corn on a Nebraska road after he was fired via text message.

Authorities said Darren Walp, 36, was arrested last week in connection with the early August incident on Highway 8 in rural Gage County.

The arrest warrant said Walp had been driving the load of corn in a Peterbilt truck for B & T Livingston Trucking LLC when he received a text message Aug. 4 telling him he had been fired.

"Pack your stuff ASAP and you can leave," the police report quoted the text as reading.

Walp, who had been taking the load of corn to Hanover, Kan., then allegedly dumped the entire load of corn, nearly 1,000 bushels, on the westbound lane Highway 8, about half a mile west of Odell.

The corn was spread out over about a quarter mile due to the driver speeding off with the truck's back doors open, authorities said.

The lost corn was valued at $3,094, while the cost of cleanup was estimated at about $500.

Walp was charged with felony criminal mischief and depositing materials on a roadway or ditch.