ZClassic (ZCL) co-founder Joshua Philip Yabut has recently been accused of stealing a US armored vehicle from the National Guard base at Fort Pickett in Backstone, and joyriding it for 60 miles before being arrested.
Yabut, 29, is known in the cryptocurrency community for co-founding ZClassic, a fork of privacy-centric crypto Zcash (ZEC), and for being a developer of ZenCash (ZEN), a Zclassic fork. He reportedly took the armored vehicle during a training exercise, but details of what exactly happened are still murky.
After stealing the vehicle, Yabut seemingly decided to lead police on a cross-country chase that lasted two hours around the state of Virginia, according to the Army Times.
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. pic.twitter.com/EYfhFux1dk
— Parker Slaybaugh (@ParkerSlay89) June 6, 2018
The developer reportedly denied being under the influence of drugs at the time, but various community members believe he was, taking into account a series of abnormal tweets the cryptocurrency enthusiast posted before taking the vehicle.
A look at his Twitter account show’s he is a Bitcoin Cash (BCH) proponent, and that the move was seemingly premeditated, as hours before taking the armored vehicle for a joyride, Yabut tweeted a Wikipedia entry about the M113 – an armored personnel carrier (APC) similar to the M577 he took – and a screenshot of a map around the area where he eventually stopped.
— Joshua [BCH] (@movrcx) June 5, 2018
Authorities declined to comment on the case while an investigation is underway. According to various publications, Major General Timothy P. Williams, the adjutant general of Virginia, stated:
“We are extremely grateful that there were no injuries as a result of this incident, and we appreciate the great work of the Virginia State Police, Richmond Police Department and other law enforcement and first responders who safely brought this situation to a close.”
No one was injured in the incident, and Joshua Yabut has reportedly been charged with driving under the influence of drugs (DUID), although he denied he was under the influence of any substance.