An ice cream truck owner left his van running outside a St. Paul gas station to keep the frozen treats cold in the 100-degree heat when another man hopped in and made a cool getaway.
The owner told police he had converted his 1997 Ford Econoline van into an ice cream truck and was inside the SuperAmerica at 577 Smith Ave. on the July 4 holiday when witnesses alerted him to a man who had driven off in the van, according to a criminal complaint filed Thursday, July 5, in Ramsey County District Court.
The complaint gives these additional details:
After the owner reported the van stolen, a Mendota Heights police officer stopped the van at Interstate 35 and Minnesota 13.
Joseph Allen Facente, 36, of St. Paul was behind the wheel. He was turned over to St. Paul police officers and told them he had permission to "sell ice cream around the neighborhood."
Asked where he was going, he said, "Frogtown -- they love me over there."
He told police he did not steal the van; he had the keys, he said.
He was charged with theft of a motor vehicle.
Facente's criminal record includes two convictions for third-degree drug sales.
Copyright 2012 - Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn.
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
