Man accused of stealing State Police truck, hours after leaving jail

A Madison man is under arrest again, hours after he left jail, this time accused of stealing a State Police vehicle from a trooper’s home in Jefferson County.

State police say that the trooper was working on equipment in the the truck at his home in rural Jefferson County at about 10:30 Friday morning, when Vincent L. Wiefling walked up and took off in the vehicle, while the trooper was distracted. Wiefling had just been released from the jail hours before. He crashed the vehicle about two miles away and hid in the woods, where police found him.

He is facing preliminary charges of Auto Theft, Resisting Law Enforcement, Criminal Trespass, Operating While Intoxicated, Unlawful Entry of a Motor Vehicle, and Leaving the Scene of an Accident.