A Pineville man was arrested Sunday after campus camera footage showed him taking a Louisiana Tech utility vehicle on an early-morning joyride and climbing into a restricted construction site, according to an arrest affidavit.
Evan Schneider, 18, was arrested by Louisiana Tech University Police at 8:45 a.m. Sept. 27.
An officer learned that a small motorized utility vehicle owned by the university had been taken during the early morning hours. The investigation showed a man who appeared heavily intoxicated, later identified as Schneider, rummaging through several carts before apparently finding a key and driving off in the missing vehicle.
Footage showed Schneider driving the cart on the roadway, grass and sidewalks in fast loops, and at one point going the wrong way on a posted one-way street. He then parked the cart in the grass in another parking area, where he rummaged through another university-owned vehicle.
Investigators also found that Schneider tried to get into at least one secured building through several doorways. He then climbed a fence into a restricted construction site after normal hours of operation. He stayed out of camera view there for about 35 minutes before climbing the fence again to leave.
Around 8:10 a.m., a sergeant recognized Schneider by his build, clothes and shoes as he walked to his vehicle near the baseball stadium, and the officer approached him.
Schneider apologized and admitted he had made some poor choices the night before, including driving the cart and entering the construction area. He told the officer he had left the key in the cupholder where he found it.
Schneider was booked on charges of criminal trespass, unauthorized use of a movable and reckless operation.
This information has been provided by a law enforcement agency as public information. Persons named or shown in photographs or video as suspects in a criminal investigation, or arrested and charged with a crime, have not been convicted of any criminal offense and are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
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