Man steals 'tank-like' armoured vehicle from National Guard, leading police on epic chase through US city

'Insane' pursuit ends in soldier being Tasered

A soldier stole an armoured vehicle from an Army National Guard base in Virginia (Parker Slaybaugh)

A soldier stole an armoured personnel carrier (APC) from a National Guard base in Virginia and led police on 60-mile chase.

State police said the unidentified thief took the vehicle, which runs on tracks like a tank, from Fort Pickett, an Army National Guard base in the city of Blackstone.

At speeds of around 40mph, he then used main roads to head towards the commonwealth’s capital, Richmond, they said.

Several squad cars gave chase as it headed towards the Capitol building.

Parker Slaybaugh, the PR director for the speaker of Virginia’s House of Delegates, tweeted a video of the extraordinary chase.

He 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.”

State Police Sergeant Keeli Hill told the Richmond Times-Dispatch that the driver "pretty much just stopped on his own accord.

Surrounded by police, he was eventually shot with a Taser and arrested.

No crashes or injuries occurred during the incident, state police spokeswoman Corinne Geller said.

She added that charges are pending against the man, who was in state police custody.

Additional reporting by Reuters