Russian man rams armored personnel carrier into shop, steals wine

[January 13, 2018]  MOSCOW (Reuters) - A man rammed an armored personnel carrier into a shop window before climbing through the rubble to steal a bottle of wine in a town in northern Russia on Wednesday morning, according to local media and video posted on social media.

The man had swiped the vehicle from a privately-run motorsport training ground nearby, driven it through a forest and into Apatity, a small town just south of the Arctic circle, local news agency Hibinform said.

Struggling to turn around in a narrow street, the man, whom witnesses described as being drunk, proceeded to slam the tank into the window of the "Family" convenience store, the news agency said.

He also crushed a Daewoo car parked nearby, images showed.

Footage shared on social media showed the man subsequently exiting the vehicle through its hatch, briefly inspecting the damage, and entering the shop through the broken window.

He was later arrested in possession of a stolen bottle of wine, Hibinform said. The shop was not licensed to sell alcohol that early in the morning, the agency added.

Witnesses visible in the footage did not seemed particularly disturbed by the incident.

A view shows the scene of an incident involving an armoured personnel carrier which was rammed by a man into a shop window before climbing through the rubble to steal a bottle of wine, in the northern town of Apatity Russia January 10, 2018. Hibinform.Ru/Handout via REUTERS

"Basically some guy stole an armored vehicle... and went into a shop to top up his stocks in the morning," the social media user described, whilst filming the snow-covered scene out of his window.

The man, in his late twenties, did not resist arrest, RIA news agency reported.

(Writing by Polina Ivanova; Editing by William Maclean)

[© 2018 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2018 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.