Easter Sunday: A strange and unlikely time for a felonious “joy ride” that would come to a splashing halt in Bellarmine pond.
Around 9 p.m. that night, a student reported headlights coming from the water of the pond, located near the Barlow Road entrance.
Public Safety arrived at the pond across from the Dolan School of Business at the same time as Fairfield Police.
A quarter-ton 1991 Nissan pickup truck, one of 38 maintenance trucks on campus, was found submerged in the water.
“The truck was pretty well drowned and water was sucked into the engine,” said Ted Hunyadi, director of operations on campus.
Hunyadi called the incident “suspicious” and said the truck, which had 70,000 miles on it, was totaled.
All gates on campus were locked over Easter weekend, excluding the main entrance and, according to Hunyadi, the truck was parked in the Maintenance Complex located next to the Pepsico Theater since it was last used on Thursday afternoon.
“Anybody could’ve gotten into the maintenance yard,” he said. “I don’t think it could’ve been a student.”
Public Safety officer Mike Lauzon said the incident is still under investigation, but said that someone probably went into the maintenance yard, found the vehicle unlocked, then started it up and went for a “joyride.”
The keys were in the ignition when Fairfield Fire Department pulled the truck out of the water, however no one was “supposed” to be driving the truck that night, according to Lauzon.
Divers from the police and fire departments went into the pond to make sure no one was injured and, according to Lauzon, the situation was resolved by 10 p.m.
“I don’t think it was driven [into the pond],” Lauzon said of the truck, which may have rolled into the water after it was started.
Lauzon said there are no plans to block off the pond; he could not recall a past incident of this nature.
He said that someone who must have found the keys inside the truck deliberately sent the truck into the pond, but said of accidents like this one, “Anything can happen.”
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