Police: Three-tired truck easy to track

A Streamwood man literally left a trail for police to follow Sunday morning as he drove his three-tired pickup truck more than seven miles to his driveway, authorities said Monday.

The fourth tire of Samuel Gavina-Morales's 2007 GMC Sierra was left in an Elgin neighborhood about 6 a.m. Sunday after he crashed the truck into a curb in the middle of a cul-de-sac on Stockbridge Place, according to police.

Someone in the neighborhood spotted 23-year-old Gavina-Morales and reported the crash, which tore up the grassy median and left debris behind, police said.

A responding officer found a groove in the roadway leading from the site of the crash and followed its swerving path for more than seven miles to Gavina-Morales's home on the 0-99 block of Edgewood Lane, according to police.

Gavina-Morales told police he continued to drive because he didn't realize the vehicle was damaged, according to the police report.

When police arrived at his home less than an hour after the crash, they found the pickup in the driveway, but the two front wheels had already been changed. A quick check of trash behind the house revealed the two damaged wheels, one completely missing a tire, according to police.

The groove that Gavina-Morales left behind indicated that he was swerving into oncoming traffic during the drive home and that he left the roadway at one point and tore up a 30-foot-long portion of grass, according to police.

His trip took him down Stockbridge, Maureen Drive, Congdon Avenue, Shoe Factory Road, Bartlett Road and Briarwood Drive before turning onto his block, according to police reports.

Gavina-Morales was charged with improper lane usage, failure to report a traffic crash and reckless driving.

He was released on bond and is due in court May 9.