A New Jersey driver is accused of intentionally driving his car into the Independence Township Police Department. The video surveillance footage seems to show the driver plowing into the police department in what looks like a gold Toyota Highlander. The weirdest part is the man was blasting Guns N Roses’s “Welcome to the Jungle” and seemed to celebrate upon exiting the car. 

New Jersey police station gets rammed by Toyota

The driver, 34-year-old John Hargreaves, was immediately questioned and arrested on charges of intentionally driving his car into the Police Department office. 

“The entire vehicle came to a final resting place in the squad room,” said Warren County Prosecutor James Pfeiffer in a statement seen by ABC News. “The defendant exited the vehicle and appeared to be celebrating as officers apprehended him on the scene as his car stereo blared the song ‘Welcome to the Jungle.’”

There is an argument to be made that the driver exited the car and raised his hands over his head to show that he wasn’t armed. Yet, throughout the 30-second video of the crash, Hargreaves makes a couple of gestures that certainly seem celebratory. He raises his hands over his head in fists at first. Like you might do when saying, “Woooo whooooo!” He then opens his hands to show that they are empty. As he approaches the cops, his hands form fists again, but this time with his pointer finger out. It is this change that made the police feel like he was celebrating his crash.

Things only get weirder from there 

If crashing into the police department blaring “Welcome to the Jungle” isn’t strange enough, this wasn’t Hargreave’s first incident of the night. Allegedly, only minutes before the police station crash, Hargreaves ran his Toyota through the garage door of a nearby home. 

“The investigation showed that at approximately 6:17 p.m. (on Sept. 20), the defendant deliberately crashed his gold Toyota SUV into the garage of a private residence in an attempt to scare or harass the homeowner, who the defendant knew,” said Pfeiffer. 

They threw the book at him

Miraculously, no one was hurt between the two crashes. Even still, Hargreaves is facing a pile of heavy charges. The cops are getting him for aggravated assault, criminal mischief, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, burglary, harassment, and last, but certainly far from least, first-degree terrorism. The terrorism charge alone could land him anywhere from 30 years to life.  

We have seen more instances of police hitting people with heavy charges. We see this in particular with the street takeovers and sideshows. Many police departments have started punishing these wild drivers very harshly to warn others away from illegal events. 

As calm and cool as the cops were while arresting Hargreaves, something about that sentencing says that they want to send a message.