“Trucks Gone Wild” at Brick’s Off-Road Park arguably a well-attended event each year in Butler County. That has sometimes caused problems in the past, but not so much this year.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol increased its presence in the areas surrounding the event southwest of Poplar Bluff over the weekend. While there were more than 100 vehicles stopped, the attendees at the event were, for the most part, well-behaved this year.
“We had no issues with crowd or crashes in or around the park,” said Clark Parrott, MSHP spokesman. “It appears everyone did as we asked — enjoyed themselves, had fun and used a designated driver.”
The MSHP stopped 107 cars in the area around Brick’s over the weekend. The MSHP issued 121 warnings, cited 37 motorists on suspicion of seat-belt violations and also issued 14 non-moving citations.
Six motorists were cited for speeding, five were arrested on outstanding warrants and one driver was ticketed on suspicion of driving while intoxicated. In addition, eight were arrested on suspicion of drug offenses, five of those on suspicion of felonies.
Increased enforcement and presence on the roads near Brick’s during “Trucks Gone Wild” is not a new thing, Parrott said.
“This is not the first year,” Parrott said. “We’ve conducted operations like this for years. We increased officer presence on all roads around the event.”