“Rude awakening” doesn’t begin to describe the wake-up call Amos Phillips received while parked at T P Gas & Truck Stop, on I-15 just north of Pocatello, Idaho.
In the wee hours of Sept. 3, Labor Day, Phillips was taking his 34-hour restart after delivering for JWE Inc., a five-truck fleet based in Camdenton, Missouri, for which Phillips is a company driver.
The night before, he’d walked next door to the Fort Hall Casino, one of three in the area operated by the Shoshone-Bannock tribes. Like the truck stop, it’s part of the Fort Hall Reservation in southeastern Idaho.
Phillips recalled that the doors of his 2000 Freightliner Century Class were locked as he slept, but an intruder “grabbed hold of the handle and just ripped it open.” After entering through the passenger door, the intruder demanded money.
“I said I did not have any,” Phillips said. “He said either give me money or I’ll mess you up real bad.” As the two began to scuffle in the sleeper, the assailant, with rocks in both hands, pounded Phillips’ head.
“At one point I had him in a headlock around his neck,” using his legs, Phillips said. “I took my fingers and tried to get to his eyes, but I don’t know if I did or not. It was dark. Then I squeezed his balls. Then I turned him loose with my legs, took both feet and shoved him to the front of the truck and he fell out the door.”
The intruder ran away. He took nothing, but left what could be a critical piece of evidence: his cap.
