A 29-year-old man was arrested after allegedly stealing an armored personnel carrier (M577 APC) from Fort Pickett up I-95 and through downtown Richmond in Virginia Tuesday night.
Joshua Philip Yabut, a member of the Virginia National Guard, has been charged with driving under the influence of drugs, felony eluding, and a felony count of unauthorized use of a vehicle.
Police say Yabut, a first lieutenant assigned as commander of the Petersberg-based Headquarters Company, 276 Engineer Battalion, drove the APC from Fort Pickett up I-95 and into downtown Richmond.
Virginia National Guard spokesperson Cotton Puryear said Yabut's unit was conducting routine training at Fort Pickett when he took the armored personnel carrier.
"The vehicle was not equipped with any weapons, but the Soldier did have his personal weapon with him but had no ammunition," Puryear said. "Yabut is a first lieutenant assigned as the commander of the Petersburg-based Headquarters Company, 276th Engineer Battalion, and he has more than 11 years of service. He deployed to Afghanistan from 2008 to 2009 with the Illinois National Guard."
Yabut allegedly took the vehicle on the not-exactly-high-speed chase (the vehicle tops out at around 40 mph) for two hours before ultimately surrendering to Virginia State Police, near the state capitol building at Eat Broad Street just before 10 p.m. Tuesday night.
He also posted several photos and videos to his Twitter account during the incident.
Yabut also posted several strange, nonsensical tweets during the time of the incident including:
"where is this damn water buffalo" and "[switching to single channel plain text] this is sovereign 6 actual any station on this net do you read me?"
"We are extremely grateful that there were no injuries as a result of this incident, and we appreciate the great work of the Virginia State Police, Richmond Police Department and other law enforcement and first responders who safely brought this situation to a close," Maj. Gen. Timothy P. Williams, the Adjutant General of Virginia, said "We have initiated our own internal investigation, and we will determine appropriate actions once the investigation is complete."
Social media lit up with witnesses posting photos and videos of the armored personnel chase.
Yabut was taken to a Richmond jail where he is currently being held. Puryear said Yabut served for more than 11 years and deployed to Afghanistan from 2008 to 2009 with the Illinois National Guard.
Virginia State Police are investigating the incident.
Photo: Getty Images