Police say Donald Smith, 30, used a stolen John Deere-brand front-end loader with forks to break into the Stop-N-Go Auto Repair shop and carry away his pickup truck early on 15 September.

Several months ago, Smith brought his truck to Stop-N-Go for repair work, but failed to make payments totaling about USD1,000 in a timely manner, reports owner Jim Voegele.

Instead, Smith took matters into his own hands.

Stop-N-Go video surveillance shows Smith arriving on the fork-equipped construction vehicle, breaking down a rear fence and picking up his truck before driving away.

From the construction site of Smith's employer, "he drove 10 mi. (16 km) to get to Stop-N-Go, another 2.5 mi. (4 km) from here to a bar and into the woods and another 4 mi. (6.4 km) into the retention pond," Voegele reports.

Smith unloaded the pickup truck at the local bar and tried to hide the forklift in nearby woods, but by now he was being pursued. Smith tried to escape, but ended up mired in a muddy pond in a residential area.

Voegele estimates that officers in about 40 law enforcement vehicles from Delaware state police, New Castle County and City of New Castle were following Smith and documenting the evolving situation.

Smith, a resident of Bear, Delaware, faces multiple charges, and was responsible for about USD3,000 worth of damage to the Stop-N-Go fences and tens of thousands of dollars in damage to the forklift.