ROGERS PARK — A driverless golf cart drove itself in circles Thursday at Loyola University as campus police tried to get the rampant vehicle under control.
The video of the escapade, which included an officer bashing out the maintenance cart's window, was taken by Joseph Bailey Jr., a Loyola junior.
"I hopped on my long board after coming out of organic chemistry lab this morning — I was just minding my own business — and I heard the squealing tires," he said in a phone interview. "I was like, 'What the heck!' and I look over and I see this golf cart doing donuts at full throttle with no one in it."
The biology major said a crowd of 100 onlookers amassed by the end of the ordeal.
A Loyola spokesman said Friday the cart belonged to Aramark, the campus's food-service provider. Aramark spokeswoman Karen Cutler said the cart malfunctioned.
"We are investigating the incident ... and are very thankful that there were no serious injuries or property damage," she said in an email.
The 3 and a half minute video captures the cart moving clockwise in reverse in front Loyola's parking garage, skipping over the curb with each rotation.
"Like, where is the guy who did this?" Bailey can be heard saying over the screeches of the cart's tires.
About a minute into the video, a campus police officer arrives within the frame and whips out his baton.
As another officer arrives, he jumps to the center of the cart's rotations and busts out the driver's side window.
The cart seems to slow, but then accelerates as onlookers giggle.
"I've never seen anything like this in my life, but this is probably the best thing I've ever seen," Bailey can be heard saying.
In a change of strategy, the officer pushes on the side of the cart and is able to stop it while the other officer jumps into the cart's cab and turns off the vehicle.
The onlookers applaud the effort.
Bailey said the first thing he did before recording the video was send out a Snapchat.
"My lab partner Snapchatted me back, 'I'm laughing so hard I'm p------ my pants,' " he said.
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