SALEM, IL — A 29-year-old Salem man has been arrested in connection with the theft last week of a City of Salem Public Works pickup truck and its involvement in a subsequent hit-and-run crash.

Thomas Wilkins was charged Tuesday morning with Class 1 felony theft and multiple counts in a major traffic case.

Wilkins is accused of first walking through the maintenance shed last week at Tully Park and taking the pickup truck that had the keys inside, and then driving it out of the shed.

The truck was ultimately found abandoned in the Woodlawn area of Jefferson County where another nearby vehicle had been stolen.

That vehicle was later left in Washington County where a third vehicle was stolen that was later found abandoned in Junction City.