By Shavonne Walker

shavonne.walker@salisburypost.com

CHINA GROVE — A former Lane Construction employee was charged Thursday with stealing a company dump truck that he then crashed.

Authorities say the man wrecked his own pickup before crashing the company truck.

The Rowan County Sheriff’s Office charged Bobby Joe Milam, 32, of the 300 block of Arant Road, China Grove, with felony larceny and two counts of breaking and entering a motor vehicle.

The N.C. Highway Patrol additionally charged Milam with driving while impaired.

A Lane Construction representative told authorities the dump truck, a 2007 F650, was stolen from 1500 U.S. 29. Two other employees spotted Milam speeding into the lot in his personal vehicle, an S-10 pickup. They later saw his truck with the door open and the contents of it on the ground beside it.

The employees noticed the dump truck was missing at 2:25 a.m.

The construction company received a call from Bostian Heights Fire Chief Mike Zimmerman, who said Milam crashed the dump truck and it was overturned on its side.

Milam was in an ambulance and was being taken to the hospital, a report said. He was treated and released.

Authorities say Milam showed up for work at 8 a.m. Thursday and asked: “What do I need to do to pay for this truck?”

Milam crashed his pickup about midnight at Old Concord and Yost roads and left the scene of that crash.

He was issued a $20,000 secured bond and has since been released from the Rowan County Detention Center.