Maximo Mercado swiped a 15-ton garbage truck in the South Bronx Wednesday, but GPS tracking technology got it back.

The truck with an empty trash container on it was parked outside the garage of IESI, a waste hauling company, about 3:30 p.m.

“I was talking to the mechanic and they said ‘Look, your truck is leaving,’” Leszek Zdunczyk told the Daily News. “I thought some of the guys were moving it.”

Instead, it was Maximo Mercado, 54, who jumped behind the wheel at 138th St. and Canal Place in Port Morris and drove off, police said. He didn’t get far.

Workers at IESI tracked the 31-foot truck using a hidden GPS device mounted inside the vehicle.

The workers chased him down and found the truck a few minutes later.

They used pickup trucks to box the bigger vehicle in, trapping Mercado inside until police arrived about five minutes later at 149th St. and Park Ave.

Police said Mercado was charged with grand larceny, unauthorized use of the vehicle and criminal possession of stolen property.

Witnesses said he appeared drunk. Police said he was emotionally disturbed.

Read more:
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/bronx/2011/02/03/2011-02-03_he_steals_trash_truck__winds_up_in_the_can.html#ixzz1CxJ6cnRP