Pennsylvania truck driver arrested after calling 911 to report his own drug-fueled driving

A tractor-trailer driver in northwestern Pennsylvania was arrested last month after state police say he called 911 on himself, admitting he was “high on cocaine and methamphetamine” and asking to be taken into custody.

The unusual turn of events unfolded on April 29 along Pennsylvania Route 28 in Jefferson County, according to a report released June 13 by Pennsylvania State Police’s Punxsutawney station.

Authorities were initially alerted by a witness who reported a tractor-trailer driving erratically at just five miles per hour on the highway. But moments later, the driver himself placed a call to emergency dispatchers, telling them he was under the influence of multiple drugs and needed to be arrested, police said.

Officers stopped the vehicle on Route 28 in Clover Township and took the driver into custody on charges of drug possession and driving under the influence. The suspect, identified as a 50-year-old man from Gouldsboro, Pennsylvania, was not named in the police report.

Law enforcement experts note that while self-incriminating 911 calls are rare, such cases often indicate a person in crisis or suffering from severe intoxication. The incident also highlights ongoing concerns about drug‑impaired commercial driving, which poses a heightened risk on busy highways. Local prosecutors are likely to pursue enhanced penalties given the commercial nature of the vehicle and the combination of substances involved.

Finch Walker is the Pittsburgh Connect Reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Contact Walker at [email protected]. Instagram: @finchwalker_. X: @_finchwalker.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Man calls 911 on himself for driving high, arrested northwest of Pittsburgh