Popular spud truck at drive-in movie theater damaged in hit-and-run
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DRIGGS — A beloved spud truck that has a giant potato on a flatbed was damaged last week after a hit-and-run.
The red truck named Old Murphy is part of The Spud Drive-In movie theater in Driggs and a local landmark.
“We joke that we get more pictures. The tourists stop and take more pictures of themselves in front of the truck than they do in front of the Tetons,” said Katie Mumm, a manager at The Spud Drive-In Theatre.
The other day, however, Mumm said she came home to an unfortunate situation. She saw tire tracks everywhere and damage to her property and to the popular spud truck.
“It was the night we all had fresh snow. There were lots of accidents happening everywhere,” she said. “(The hit-and-run) ruined the front grill, which is an old-fashioned type of grill (on the truck). It’s kind of the statement piece on the front of the truck. Then bent the front right bender in,” she said.
Mumm said it appeared there was a hit-and-run with a vehicle and that it happened sometime between 6 and 11 p.m. on Thursday. She said that she and her family were gone at the time. Their front yard is part of the drive-in theater.
“It looked pretty intense. They went off the road before our driveway, and then it looks like they landed on the mailbox and the mailbox has a 5-gallon cement bucket that is full of cement holding up the mailbox, and that was completely taken out,” she said. “The cement was cracked in half, and then they swerved and hit the front of the spud truck and kept going past the spud truck.”
Mumm said she reported the incident to the Teton County Sheriff’s Office. A spokesman for the sheriff’s office told EastIdahoNews.com they are investigating the incident and they are treating it as a damaged property call. If you have any information, call the Teton County Sheriff’s Office at (208) 354-2323.
Mumm said she doesn’t know yet how much money was lost in damages and said that her husband, Jedd, who is the other manager at the drive-in, will probably fix the truck. She’s just hoping whoever caused the damage will come forward.
“We were just bummed. It’s a big part of our business. We are just a little disappointed that they wouldn’t have reached out,” she said. “We would love for them to come forward and talk to us.”