Driver dumped corn on highway after firing, authorities say

BEATRICE, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a trucker dumped a load of corn on a southeast Nebraska highway after reading a text telling him he'd been fired.

Court records say 36-year-old Darren Walp, of Crum Lynne, Pennsylvania, is charged with felony criminal mischief and a related misdemeanor. The records don't list the name of his attorney.

A court document says Walp was driving the load from Reynolds, Nebraska, to Hanover, Kansas, on Aug. 8 when he exchanged texts with his boss. The document says that soon after Walp read that he'd been dismissed, he stopped the truck on Nebraska Highway 8 near Odell, got out and opened the grain trailer's bottom hatch doors.

The document says Walp then drove down the highway, spilling out nearly 1,000 bushels of corn — nearly $3,100 worth.