Police chases are a relatively common occurrence but many times the vehicles involved aren’t very interesting. That’s certainly not the case this time around as the model is question is an armored personnel carrier that was stolen from Fort Pickett which is a Virginia National Guard base near the town of Blackstone.
According to CNN, the armored personnel carrier was stolen on Tuesday shortly before 8 pm. This sparked a two-hour long police chase which led Virginia State troopers down a number of major roads including I-95 and Route 460.
The chase was relatively slow as the vehicle in question only has a top speed of around 40 mph (64 km/h). However, even at those speeds, a heavily armored vehicle can still cause a lot of damage.
Thankfully the armored personnel carrier wasn’t equipped with weapons and the thief didn’t use the vehicle to cause any accidents or to destroy property.
This is INSANE! Someone has hijacked a “Tank-like” vehicle from Fort Pickett and just drove it by our apartment! This is on Broad Street in the Fan. pic.twitter.com/EYfhFux1dk
— Parker Slaybaugh (@ParkerSlay89) June 6, 2018
The bizarre chase came to an end at approximately 9:40 pm when the suspect stopped at East Broad Street and 11th Street in Richmond. WTVR reports the thief wasn’t cooperative with police so he was eventually tased. He was later taken into custody and transported to a local hospital with minor injuries.
According to Virginia State Police spokesperson Corrine Geller, “The Virginia State Police began pursuit of the vehicle since receiving the initial report and traveled along with it from Nottoway County to the City of Richmond. No crashes or injuries occurred during the course or as a result of this incident.”
The incident is still under investigation and reports suggest the male driver was a soldier who hasn’t been charged as of last night.