A Canadian man was arrested in Vancouver’s West End over the weekend after trying to usurp someone else’s Corvette. The owner had reportedly left the vehicle’s top off in a public lot and a passerby, assuming the car was a free agent, climbed inside. By the time the Vette’s owner returned, the man had settled in and was refusing to leave.

This wasn’t officially a theft, mind you, just a case of some weirdo declining to get out of a Corvette on the grounds that simply occupying the driver’s seat magically made it his. As you have correctly assumed, the situation escalated once authorities arrived.

According to the Vancouver Sun (via Jalopnik), the owner requested the man vacate his vehicle only to be rebuffed. The police were contacted and received an even better story from the suspect:

Sgt. Jason Robillard said officers who arrived on scene repeatedly ordered the man to get out of the car but he continued to refuse, “stating that this was now his car.” When it became clear the man would not leave the car of his own will, officers used a bean bag shotgun on the man’s legs, which allowed officers to move in and arrest the 36-year-old Vancouver man.

We’re going to go out on a limb and say this person was probably mentally unwell, as the mere sight of a shotgun pointed at a sane person’s lower half is typically enough to induce compliance. It’s unclear whether police attempted alternative strategies before shooting the dude in the legs. But it’s hard to argue with the results. Robillard said the unnamed man was treated for minor injuries at the scene, despite his refusal for care, and would be charged with criminal mischief. The Corvette was said to be unharmed.

[Image: Roger Dale Pleis/Shutterstock]