A South Dakotan was cuffed after he repeatedly barged past police and firefighters that were trying to deal with a blaze in his apartment block so he could re-enter and rescue his most precious possession - beer.

Michael Casteel was nicked on 27 March when he re-emerged from the property in Sioux Falls, clutching two cans of Bud Ice Premium, all while emergency services treated other local residents.

A police mouthpiece said Casteel had demonstrated “poor judgement” when he tried to “save” his beer, Smoking Gun reported.

As such, Casteel was charged with obstructing a firefighter or law enforcement agent and was booked into Minnehaha County jail, a resting place that sounds more pleasant than it probably is.

This wasn’t the man’s first run-in with the fuzz; he had his collar felt in April for drunk driving and other charges including driving with an open container of booze and threatening a policeman.

This tale puts us in mind of the story of blues legend BB King, who ended up calling his guitar Lucille.

As the yarn goes, a fire broke out at a dancehall the fingersmith was playing at back in the '40s. On escaping he realised he'd left his guitar on stage. King rushed back in to retrieve it. The next day he heard the fire had started when two brawling men knocked over a barrel of kerosene while fighting over a woman called Lucille.

King then christened his guitar - and all his subsequent guitars - Lucille, as a reminder never to do anything so stupid again. Of course, having retrieved his guitar, King's artistry improved and improved, and he subsequently became an artist beloved by millions, and fairly loaded.

Casteel on the other hand? Two cans of Bud Ice Premium wouldn’t have got him loaded. ®