http://www.wcjb.com/content/news/Virginia-guardsman-says-he-was-ordered-to-t... RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — An Army National Guard officer charged with driving an armored personnel carrier off base while under the influence of drugs insisted Thursday he was ordered to do so as part of a training exercise and called the charges against him "completely bogus." Yabut told The Associated Press he was first notified of the training exercise by his commander a week before he drove the vehicle away Tuesday evening from Fort Pickett. Yabut said he was later given the command in coded military language to conduct the exercise, which he said was aimed at gauging police response. "I didn't want to do it, but I believed it was a lawful order, and as a commissioned officer I was required to do so," Yabut said. Yabut said he was not under the influence of illegal drugs. He said the only drug he has taken recently is a low dose of Lexapro, which he said he was prescribed for anxiety after he returned in 2009 from a deployment in Afghanistan. He said the drug has never altered his behavior. "I think the toxicology report will show that those charges are completely false, and I don't even know why I would be charged with that to begin with," he said. "I didn't just run in to an APC and drive it off," Yabut said. "It was prepped. It was prepared with 60 miles of fuel and soldiers assisted with the preparation." When arrested, Joshua Yabut confirms that he took the armoured vehicle in obedience to orders from his Brigade Commander, as part of a police response test he was tasked with. He, however, denied all drug charges with “a big NO with capital letters,” claiming that its “just bogus.” Presently, Joshua Yabut is being detained in Richmond Jail where he awaits his next hearing, scheduled to take place on Wednesday 11th July,2018.