I think somebody may have misunderstood how work. That somebody is a with an open roof, sat in the driver’s seat, and claimed the car was his. The owner of the car, and later the Vancouver police, disagreed.

The attempted theft-by-sitting happened this past Sunday in a parking lot by Sunset Beach in Vancouver. The owner of the Corvette (the which is cute) came back to his car to find a 36-year-old guy sitting inside it, and the man refuse to leave when asked by the owner.

The owner called 911, the cops came and ordered the guy out of the car, but he refused, stating that “this was now his car.”

Eventually, police shot the car-squatter in the legs with a bean bag shotgun, which apparently hurt enough that the police were able to drag the guy out of the car.

The Corvette appears to have been undamaged, save for the owner’s knowledge that some weirdo’s ass was in his seat, and the attempted Corvette-napper will be charged with criminal mischief.

What exactly was this guy’s plan? It’s not like he could drive off—hotwiring a modern car like that is very much a non-trivial task, and not something you can just do while sitting in the driver’s seat; this isn’t a 1978 Corvette.

How’d he think this was going to play out? The owner would good-naturedly chuckle and say “aw, you got me!” and toss him the keys? Was he just planning to live in the Corvette for the forseeable future?

This is an idiotic way to try to steal a car.

(CORRECTION: Duh, it’s not a convertible, just a coupé with the roof panel open. Sorry.)