BUTLER TWP — It wasn’t the normal traffic stop.

Township police shortly before 5 a.m. Thursday on New Castle Road pulled over a young man driving a motorized shopping cart.

“I’m not going to lie,” the 22-year-old driver told officers, according to the police report. “I stole this, and I’m drunk.”

Police suspect the man, who they did not immediately identify, took the cart from the Wal-Mart in Butler Commons.

The not-so-quick getaway ended about a half mile later in his arrest.

Police believe he was headed home. The man lives in the 600 block of New Castle Road and was half way there.

“He made it a pretty good distance,” Garman said, “but it didn’t take long to catch up to him once we got the call.”

A caller to the county’s 911 center alerted authorities to the unusual motorist at 4:50 a.m. A minute or two later, patrol officers had their man near Greenwood Drive.

Best guess is that he was going no more than 3 mph on the electric cart designed for the handicapped.

“But he’s not handicapped,” Garman noted of the suspect.

Police believe the man had used the same cart to shop at the store. Officers found food in its basket.

Officers in their report described the man as “very cooperative and friendly.”

He offered several reasons why he took the cart. One suggested that he may have taken the store’s customer service policy a bit too far.

“He said they leave them out for people to use,” Garman said.

Officers said they smelled alcohol on the man’s breath and gave him a preliminary breath test, which showed he had alcohol in his system.

But the officers did not give him a blood test or a formal breath test, meaning he likely would not be charged with drunken driving.

Instead, at a minimum, he can expect to be charged with theft and public drunkenness.

Garman said if they find that the cart is worth $2,000 or more, the theft charge would be a felony.

“This was a dumb and dangerous thing to do,” Garman said. “It was dark out and that cart had no lights on. He’s fortunate another vehicle didn’t hit him.”