Title: Company commander steals armored vehicle from National Guard base Source:
Army Times URL Source:https://www.armytimes.com/news/2018 ... icle-from-national-guard-base/ Published:Jun 7, 2018 Author:Denise Lavoie, The Associated Press Post Date:2018-06-07 01:59:59 by Hondo68 Keywords:Afghanistan veteran, NASA Langley Research Center, developer for ZenCash Views:1920 Comments:8
Company commander steals armored vehicle from National Guard base, police say
Emergency personnel surround a National Guard military vehicle stolen from Fort Pickett, Va., on June 5, 2018. Police said they arrested a soldier who stole the armored personnel carrier after chasing him for more than 60 miles. (Grace Hollars/Richmond Times-Dispatch via AP)
This story has been updated since it was first published Wednesday morning.
RICHMOND, Va. — An Army National Guard officer accused of stealing an armored personnel carrier from a Virginia base and leading police on a more than 60-mile (100-kilometer) chase was driving under the influence of drugs, police said Wednesday.
Joshua Philip Yabut, 29, of Richmond, was charged with eluding police and unauthorized use of a vehicle, the Virginia National Guard said in a news release.
The vehicle, which drives on tracks like a tank, was stolen Tuesday evening from Fort Pickett in Blackstone. Police chased it for about two hours at speeds as high as 40 mph (65 kph) before the driver stopped and surrendered near Richmond City Hall, Virginia State Police said.
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 Guard said the personnel carrier was driven away during routine training at Fort Pickett and has been returned to the base. The vehicle wasn’t equipped with any weapons, but Yabut had his personal weapon with him without any ammunition, the Guard said.
Police said an investigation is ongoing and declined to comment on a motive for stealing the vehicle, but said Yabut was under the influence of drugs when he was arrested.
In a Wednesday evening phone call from Virginia’s Central State Hospital, Yabut told The Associated Press he was authorized to take the vehicle on a pre-planned route as part of a training exercise to gauge the police response. Yabut said his brigade commander, who he declined to name, told him to take the vehicle. The psychiatric hospital is in Petersburg, Virginia, and its patients include people receiving court-ordered mental health evaluations and treatment.
Yabut also denied authorities’ claim that he was under the influence of drugs during the incident. “That’s a big ‘NO’ with capital letters,” he said.
No bond was set when he appeared earlier Wednesday in Richmond General District Court via video link from the city jail. Yabut’s attorney, Assistant Public Defender Thomas Wieworka, did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
This undated image provided by Richmond City Sheriff's Office shows Joshua Yabut. Yabut, a soldier who was chased by police for more than 60 miles after he stole an armored personnel carrier from a National Guard base was driving under the influence of drugs, Virginia State Police said Wednesday, June 6, 2018. (Richmond City Sheriff's Office via AP)
The Guard said Yabut is a first lieutenant assigned as company commander of the 276th Engineer Battalion and has more than 11 years of service. He deployed to Afghanistan from 2008 to 2009 with the Illinois National Guard.
“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 in a statement.
Williams said the Guard has started an internal investigation and “will determine appropriate actions once the investigation is complete.”
Michael Finneran, a spokesman for the NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, said Yabut worked there in a civilian job in the office of the chief information officer from 2014-2017.
Yabut also previously worked as a developer for ZenCash, the cryptocurrency company said in a statement Wednesday.
Yabut was a developer in the project’s early stages, and he “intentionally made public a method” of attacking the system, which was a “vulnerability” that he coded in, according to the statement.
Emergency personnel surround a National Guard military vehicle stolen from Fort Pickett, Va., on June 5, 2018. Police said they arrested a soldier who stole the armored personnel carrier after chasing him for more than 60 miles. (Grace Hollars/Richmond Times-Dispatch via AP)
Representatives of the company, which said in the statement that it had mitigated the vulnerability, didn’t immediately respond to further questions from The Associated Press.
Yabut was being held at the Richmond jail. Attempts to reach his defense attorney or family members who could comment on his behalf were not successful.
Yabut seemed to foreshadow the theft and chase in Twitter posts Tuesday. Hours before the vehicle drove off the base, an account confirmed by the Guard as Yabut’s tweeted a Wikipedia entry about the M113 armored personnel carrier, which is similar to the M577 vehicle police chased, and a screenshot of a map around the area where the vehicle eventually stopped.
Minutes after police began their pursuit shortly before 8 p.m., Yabut posted a photo and video of himself in what appears to be the stolen vehicle.
He wrote a series of odd tweets Tuesday, including: “where is this damn water buffalo” "all i wanna do is get an anime wife” and “wow I think I just discovered a large illegal spy operation in the us government.”
Attempts to reach Yabut's family members were not successful.
In February, Yabut filed papers to run as an independent candidate for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Tim Kaine.
Yabut is due back in court on July 11.
Associated Press writer Sarah Rankin contributed to this report.
Police said an investigation is ongoing and declined to comment on a motive for stealing the vehicle, but said Yabut was under the influence of drugs when he was arrested.
Ya think?
Or maybe he needed to BE under the influence of drugs to get within shouting distance of normal? That boy is batshit crazy.
This story reminds me of when I was at Ft Knox in 1970. Some guy had just got out of the Brig for ??? Anyway, he was pissed, got liquored up, consumed some other stuff. Went to the vehicle park, and stole a tank and took off. The next day, we are going down the road heading for main post. There was a small brick PX near the motor pool. Only thing left was the foundation and a huge pile of rubble, and a big hole in the fence around the motor pool. When we got to main post, the formerly nice brick Main post MP building had two huge holes in it. The idiot drove in one side, and out the other. Story we got was they chased him around for a short while until he ran out of fuel. I bet when he finally climbed out he got some real sweet kisses & hugs LOL !!!! I have to believe after that they tightened up on securing track vehicles !
He probably died busting rocks before finishing his sentence. I wish I could have witnessed it happening, instead of just the aftermath. I wish I had had a camera with me, I would love to have pictures of the MP Building, and the remains of the small PX. LOL WHAT AN IDIOT !!!!!
This story reminds me of when I was at Ft Knox in 1970. Some guy had just got out of the Brig for ??? Anyway, he was pissed, got liquored up, consumed some other stuff. Went to the vehicle park, and stole a tank and took off.
I remember reading about that when it happened,and thought it was hilarious.
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Emergency personnel surround a National Guard military vehicle stolen from Fort Pickett, Va., on June 5, 2018. Police said they arrested a soldier who stole the armored personnel carrier after chasing him for more than 60 miles. (Grace Hollars/Richmond Times-Dispatch via AP)