WE THREE KINGS OF ORIENT... AARGH!

Passenger throttles carol singing van driver

A VAN passenger was arrested after cops say he CHOKED the driver because he was singing Christmas carols in March.

Clayton Lucas, 25, told police he began to strangle the driver because he was singing festive songs and refused to stop.

Police responded around 9am to a car parked along Route 28 in East Deer, Pittsburgh, for what they understood to be a medical emergency.

A state trooper spotted the Chrysler Town and Country minivan parked on the hard shoulder, with two men on the other side of the guide rail.

Drugs

The victim told the trooper that Lucas reached around his seat while he was driving and began choking him.

Police said Lucas would not listen when the state trooper tried to handcuff him.

After several verbal commands, he ended up having to sweep Lucas’s legs from under him.

The victim told the trooper he was singing Christmas songs. As a result, Lucas tried to choke him to make him stop singing.

It is not known which carols the driver was singing – or why – but sources claim drugs or alcohol may have been involved.

The victim said Lucas restricted the air and blood from around his neck to the point he was about to pass out.

Afterwards, his neck was red and his eyes were bloodshot.

Lucas (above) faces charges of aggravated assault, simple assault, strangulation, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct.