Detectives are investigating the theft of a Nevada Department of Transportation truck found burning Saturday in the hills of east Carson City near the Lyon County border.
According to Carson City Sheriff's Department records, the white extended-cab, three-quarter ton Ford pickup was reported stolen from a Stewart Street lot about noon Saturday.
Around 3:30 p.m., Lyon County dispatchers received a call of a vehicle teetering on the edge of a ravine in flames in a remote area south of Highland Road in Mound House.
After fire crews made their way to the truck and extinguished the fire, police discovered it was the NDOT vehicle.
NDOT spokesman Scott Magruder said the truck was parked with the keys in it, as its driver worked nearby to restripe the department's parking lot.
"The (thief) was very brazen," Magruder said. "He walked right up, went into the truck and drove off in front of workers."
The theft was caught on video.
Contact reporter F.T. Norton at ftnorton@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1213.
