Soldiers assigned to 5th Battalion, 4th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, train on the Avenger Air Defense System in Grafenwoehr, Germany, on July 28, 2023. A German man stole one of the unit’s Humvees this week and took it for a joyride while intoxicated, Ansbach police said Wednesday. (Yesenia Cadavid/U.S. Army)

ANSBACH, Germany — A German man who police say has a history of going joyriding in U.S. military vehicles saw his latest escapade end when he was found earlier this week drunk and unconscious after a 24-mile trip in a stolen Army Humvee.

The 21-year-old swiped the vehicle from Shipton Kaserne in Obereichenbach sometime between 2:30 p.m. Monday and 6:45 a.m. Tuesday, Ansbach police said Wednesday in a statement.

He then drove nearly 24 miles north to Neuherberg while intoxicated and was found inside the Humvee early Tuesday, according to the statement.

Army officials are coordinating with German police to investigate, Kate Necaise, a spokeswoman for U.S. Army garrison Ansbach, said Thursday.

The vehicle belongs to the 5th Battalion, 4th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, Necaise said. No vehicle damage was reported and the Humvee was returned to Shipton Kaserne.

The suspect does not have a driver’s license, Ansbach police said.

He was cited twice in 2021 after taking Humvees from Shipton and Bismarck barracks, police said.

On one of those occasions, he took the vehicle for a 50-mile joyride across six villages and towns, Ansbach police told Stars and Stripes.

As of Thursday, the man was hospitalized for a mental health evaluation, and German prosecutors will decide later whether to charge him, an Ansbach police spokesman said.

Many military vehicles, which are designed for expedient battlefield use, do not need an ignition key and instead rely on a simple switch to start, making them a target for theft.