Canadian Man Arrested for Corvette Squatting
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]
A staunch consumer advocate tracking industry trends and regulation. Before joining TTAC, Matt spent a decade working for marketing and research firms based in NYC. Clients included several of the world’s largest automakers, global tire brands, and aftermarket part suppliers. Dissatisfied with the corporate world and resentful of having to wear suits everyday, he pivoted to writing about cars. Since then, that man has become an ardent supporter of the right-to-repair movement, been interviewed on the auto industry by national radio broadcasts, driven more rental cars than anyone ever should, participated in amateur rallying events, and received the requisite minimum training as sanctioned by the SCCA. Handy with a wrench, Matt grew up surrounded by Detroit auto workers and managed to get a pizza delivery job before he was legally eligible. He later found himself driving box trucks through Manhattan, guaranteeing future sympathy for actual truckers. He continues to conduct research pertaining to the automotive sector as an independent contractor and has since moved back to his native Michigan, closer to where the cars are born. A contrarian, Matt claims to prefer understeer — stating that front and all-wheel drive vehicles cater best to his driving style.
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I think that squatter was due for a tune-up. A police style tune-up.
Expert beanbag marksman to hit someone in the lower legs while squatting in a corvette. The minimum safe range for that round is 20ft.