A lacrosse player at Auburn University was arrested on Saturday, after he stole a truck, kidnapped a woman and hit a line of cars parked nearby.
His justification for committing the crimes? He "wanted to see what it was really like to play the video game Grand Theft Auto," NBC reported on Tuesday.
20-year-old Zachary Burgess of Hoover, Alabama was at a local bar just before 2:30 a.m. when he suddenly went on a rampage, crashing into parked vehicles in the nightclub's lot.
According to the arrest report, Baton Rouge police officers were called to the area by people nearby who spied the erratic driver committing hit-and-run after hit-and-run.
"We responded to numerous reports of hit-and-runs in the parking lot of a local bar," Cpl. Don Coppola, Baton Rouge Police Department, told NBC. "The vehicle was found abandoned a few yards away from the scene and a group of witnesses were holding the suspect at the location when officers arrived."
Bystanders told police that the owner of the truck parked at the bar and exited his vehicle while it was still running. A woman sitting in the passenger's seat waited in the car while the owner ducked inside. Burgess then ran into the truck and tried to steal the car.
"When he tried to flee the parking lot there were several cars blocking the way," Coppola explained. "He began ramming into the parked cars."
The female sitting in the passenger's seat reported to police that she was held in the truck against her will, saying that Burgess "forcibly" kept her in the vehicle until she leapt out of the moving truck.
"The passenger was able to jump out of the vehicle and get to safety," Coppola reported, adding that Burgess allegedly hit nine vehicles in total. "He fled the scene of the accident with no signs of him intending to return the truck to the rightful owner."
Burgess was arrested and charged with theft of a motor vehicle, 9 counts of hit-and-run, and simple kidnapping. He was released the day after the string of crimes, after posting bond that was set at $80,000.
