Early one morning while Larry Binner was trying to sleep in his freight truck, a man knocked on the window.

Binner said he did not answer the 3 a.m. window rap. But when he peered into his side mirrors, he saw the man slink underneath the truck and try to steal a $400 spare tire.

While the man was not successful, the 57-year-old Binner said it is just one example of how people need to be aware of their surroundings at truck stops.

Over the years, many crimes -- ranging from drug trafficking, theft, prostitution and murder -- have occurred in the massive lots of truck stops, according to Illinois and Indiana State Police.

Sgt. Dean Wildauer, who leads the Indiana State Police force on drug interdiction, said Northwest Indiana is ripe for distributing narcotics at truck stops.

"Indiana is great for being known as the Crossroads of America," Wildauer said. "You're going to have your personal amounts (of drugs) at truck stops, and then you have the truck driver who just can't make it because of the economy. ... They need to supplement with something else because they have truck payments."

About a year and a half ago, Wildauer said police found a marijuana load at the Flying J truck stop on Ripley Street.

"He was hauling passenger cars, and we recovered about 30 pounds of marijuana being stashed in one of the cars," Wildauer said.

Last week the body of a woman, identified as Jessica L. Brunker, 29, of Lake Station, also was found near the Flying J truck stop. The manager declined to comment, and corporate representatives could not be reached. The investigation into Brunker's death is ongoing, and the cause of death is pending.

A few years ago, truck drivers were being hijacked at gunpoint from Northwest Indiana rest areas and duct-taped in the back of their trucks. The attackers then drove the steel loads to Illinois scrap yards to be sold.

To promote safety, some gas stations and rest areas, like the Steel City Truck Stop in Gary, have hired 24-hour security guards.

Truck driver Sandy Long, who has been driving for 37 years, said she sleeps with a kitchen knife near the bed in her truck. Though she has been fortunate to not be a victim of a crime, Long said her brother had been robbed at gunpoint at an Arizona truck stop.

"A truck stop is usually dark, there's a lot of traffic in and out, it's anonymous," said Long, of Missouri. "Back in, I think 1981, a lady driver friend of mine got raped at one of the Gary truck stops in broad daylight. I just don't stop there."

Decades ago, truck drivers were known for cashing checks for large amounts of money for the loads they hauled, Long said, making them a target for criminals.

"Unfortunately the bad guys still think we carry big money," she said. "We don't. We carry ATMs (and) credit cards."

Truck stops are supposed to be a resting place for drivers, police said, but some drivers use the stops for purchasing drugs. Wildauer said some freight operators use cocaine and meth to stay awake and drive.

"They are using that instead of going to sleep," he said. "The rule of thumb for a truck driver is, if the wheels are not turning, they're not making money."

Wildauer said some drivers they have detained started in California and have driven across the country to Indiana on no sleep and under the influence of drugs.

"By the time they get here, their reaction time is the equivalent to that of a drunk driver," he said.

But Long said drug use among truck drivers is the exception, not the rule.

"We are subject to random drug testing," she said. "We never know when our company is going to tell us to go to the nearest occupational clinic, or when we come into the terminal if they'll send us to pee in a cup or blow in a tube."

Though some drivers may be involved in illegal activity, a lot of the crime at truck stops orginate from the locals, Wildauer said. Prostitutes often supply the drivers with their meth and cocaine fixes, he said, and neighborhood criminals are less likely to be caught in parking lots that can hold 400 semitrucks.

And now "lot lizards," or prostitutes who work truck stops, are traveling across state lines to the region. Police said there is an influx of women from Milwaukee to Northwest Indiana, which has earned a good reputation for its high volume of traffic, Wildauer said, and in turn, clients.

Wildauer said it just feeds the cycle, with drivers resorting to stealing from their cargo or those of others to pay the dealers.

Truck driver Bruce Elveris, 59, said he thinks crime at truck stops has decreased during his 22 years on the job.

"There were a lot more prostitutes" a decade ago, Elveris said. "Sometimes you'd get about a dozen knocks (on your door) a night."

But Illinois and Indiana State Police recommend the public still keep its eyes open at rest areas and report suspicious activity.

"It is with the public's assistance that many crimes are solved," Illinois State Police Sgt. Juan Valenzuela said.

Though even with an observant public, it is impossible to catch everyone, said Joseph White, a senior trooper with the Indiana State Police.

"We could have all the troopers we could possibly imagine, and all the city and county departments we can imagine working the toll ways, and we're still not going to get it all," said White, one of the members of the drug interdiction team.

White said police stopped a truck driving from South Bend to Chicago last summer and found five improvised explosive devices in the truck's sleeping area.

"You just never know who's next to you on the road," he said.