A man who crashed his car into Melbourne’s Crown Casino and parked in the foyer has claimed he accidentally drank petrol in the lead-up to the bizarre incident.
Chen Jie Xu, 34, drove down a footpath in June where he crashed into three banks before running his SUV through glass doors at the front of Crown and eventually coming to a stop at the top of an escalator.
Fronting the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court this week, Xu said he had become confused after accidentally taking a drink from a bottle inside his car that was filled with petrol. Tests also revealed cocaine in his system.
According to a report by ABC News, Magistrate John Bentley dismissed Xu’s excuse as absurd and said he should never have been behind the wheel in the first place.
“How could someone, he’s drunk petrol and on cocaine, navigate himself to the Crown Casino car park?” he asked.
Xu was sentenced to 13 months in jail after pleading guilty to reckless conduct endangering serious injury, possessing a controlled weapon without lawful excuse and causing damage to Crown and the three banks.