California Man Climbs Under Wine Truck, Drinks from Tank

A determined Modesto, CA, wino got his fix from the source on Wednesday after climbing onto a moving truck to drink wine from its tank.

the Modesto California Highway Patrol arrested Gabriel Moreno after a unique incident involving a Cherokee Freight Lines tanker truck traveling on Highway 99. A dashcam video shows Moreno pulling in front of the truck, putting his hazard lights on, and directing the distributor to pull to the side of the road.

At first, the truck driver followed the direction, assuming a proverbial “good Samaritan” was alerting him to an as-yet undetected mechanical problem. He was quickly disabused of that notion as Moreno leaped from his vehicle and quickly approached the rig in only his underwear.

As he pulled back onto the freeway, another camera recorded the presumably thirsty Moreno clambering onto the moving vehicle. He briefly hung on the side, then climbed underneath the tanker. He then allegedly began drinking directly from the underside nozzle as it emptied hundreds of gallons of wine.

What followed was one of the most memorable calls Modesto CHP officer Tom Olsen has ever heard. “This individual was able to release the wine from under the tanker, and he placed himself underneath the tanker in such a manner, the best way to describe this was somebody doing like snow angels,” Olsen said.

Moreno was arrested, of course, though it is not clear whether his thirst was adequately quenched beforehand. “This individual got exactly what they were looking for immediately,” Olsen quipped. “I’ve listened to thousands and thousands of calls,” he added. “This one’s up there in the top 10.”