A driver was caught on video Friday morning going for a joyride in his SUV on the field of Petco Park in San Diego, tearing up the surface while doing donuts.
Police told KTLA sister station KSWB, the unidentified driver was arrested on suspicion of felony vandalism.
The SUV came out from a ballpark tunnel onto the field while grounds crews were preparing the field for the San Diego Padres season.
“Definitely is the most bizarre thing I’ve seen on the field,” said attorney Ryan Carlson, who watched the incident unfold from his office overlooking Petco Park.
Carlson told KSWB he thought the driver was an employee out for a joyride, but when the driver started tearing through the outfield area and doing doughnuts, he took out his cell phone to get video, which was first reported by the San Diego Union-Tribune.
“I just kind of recorded it as a joke saying ‘You know, this guy must be really pissed about the new playoff format that the MLB is implementing’ or, you know, the lockout itself,” Carlson said.
Moments later, with fresh tracks all over the field, the joyride came to an end as the grounds crew blocked the exit.
“It’s been in Ohio as early as the mid-1850s at least, brought in as an ornamental plant because of its unique foliage and white flowers,” Gardner said. “It was actually planted in people’s landscaping, and it has been spreading.”
“Once the car came to a stop and people started to surround it, that’s when I realized I might have just witnessed a crime. It really wasn’t that apparent at first. There was no real sense of, you know, urgency from anybody. Everybody was pretty calm,” Carlson said.
Toward the end of the video, the driver is shown sitting on the dirt and surrounded by employees until security arrived. He was arrested by police shortly after the incident.
The San Diego Padres declined to comment on the incident.