A man arrested Saturday for auto theft claimed the coronavirus made him do it, cops say.

According to investigators, Alvin Rementer, 70, in late-January pawned his 2000 Chevrolet Silverado for $1500 at Pawn Depot in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Since turning over title to his wheels, Rementer has returned to the shop several times to “make statements of not possibly being able to pay for the pawn payment,” an arrest affidavit states.

While the pawn shop manager was “willing to work with him,” cops say, Rementer allegedly took matters into his own hand around 7 AM Saturday. Using a spare key, Rementer drove the truck away from the pawn shop (where it apparently was parked outside the business).

After the car was reported stolen, a cop spotted the vehicle and conducted a traffic stop. Rementer, who was driving the Chevy, reportedly confessed to stealing the vehicle, adding that he “freaked out over the ‘corona’ and the overall situation.”

Rementer, cops report, acknowledged that what he did was wrong and that he “could have handled getting his vehicle back in a different way.”

Charged with grand theft auto, a felony, Rementer is being held in the Pinellas County jail in lieu of $2500 bond.