Angry man on bulldozer rampage
2004-06-05 09:56
Granby - A muffler shop owner reportedly angry at local government over a zoning dispute tore through town in an armoured bulldozer, smashing buildings and firing shots as police tried to stop the slow-motion rampage.
Authorities were trying to blast their way into the steel-plated cab of the machine with explosives late on Friday, Grand County Emergency Management Director Jim Holihan said. At least one explosion was heard, but it was not immediately clear whether it penetrated the machine's makeshift armour.
The siege left a trail of splintered structures in this mountain tourist town, but there were no reports of injuries.
"Gunfire was just ringing out everywhere," said Sandra Tucker, who saw the bulldozer begin the rampage from her office on Main Street. "It sounded to me like an automatic rifle, firing about every second."
By late afternoon, the bulldozer had come to a stop stuck in the rubble of a metal warehouse. Officers clambered on top, apparently trying to talk to the man, identified by the town manager as Marvin Heemeyer.
Heemeyer was angry after losing a zoning dispute over land near his muffler shop, town manager Tom Hale said.
He also had been fined $2 500 in a separate case for not having a septic tank and other city code violations at his business, Hale said.
When he paid the fine, he enclosed a note with his check saying "Cowards," Hale said.
"We felt he was venting his frustration that he didn't get his way," Hale said of the note. "We didn't think he was going to do something like this."
The cab of the yellow bulldozer was protected with black metal plates apparently welded on over a period of weeks in his muffler shop.
County manager Lurline Curran said at least some of the wrecked buildings belonged to people involved in one or both of the disputes.
"He evidently proceeded in destroying the properties of people involved with that," Curran said. She said she had heard the man spent two months fortifying the bulldozer in his shop.
- AP