Authorities insist damage to the town of Granby,
Colorado would have been lessened had
Mr. Hemeyer been of smaller stature.
Serious candidate for anger management here.
During WW II during the batle for Odessa, the soviets welded steel plates to some tractors and mounted weapons.
They weren't bad as erstaz tanks and useful against the rumanians. I wonder if this where the guy got his inspiration?
Authorities insist damage to the town of Granby,
Colorado would have been lessened had
Mr. Hemeyer been of smaller stature.
The latest news is they have tried twice to blow him up but to no avail. They are going to try again later.
Latest from AP
GRANBY - A muffler shop owner reportedly angry at local government over a zoning dispute tore through town Friday in an armored 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 as of 10:30 p.m. 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 armor.
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."
Gov. Bill Owens traveled to Granby Friday night to assess the damage.
The cab of the yellow bulldozer was protected with black metal plates apparently welded on over a period of weeks in his muffler shop.
"It looked like a futuristic tank," said Rod Moore, speaking by phone from his auto garage and towing company.
He said the bulldozer rumbled past within 15 feet of his shop, with an officer perched on top, firing shots into the top. At one point, he said the officer dropped some kind of explosive down the exhaust pipe.
"He just kept shooting," Moore said. "The dozer was still going ... it didn't do a thing."
Authorities with the Grand County sheriff's office and town police did not return calls seeking comment. The State Patrol said all roads in and out of the town 50 miles west of Denver were closed.
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.
Ian Daugherty, a bakery owner, said the driver was upset a concrete plant had been built too close to his business. The driver, Daugherty added, "went out of his way" not to harm anyone.
State Patrol Maj. Jim Wolfinbarger said officers told him the driver had aimed his weapon at propane tanks.
The bulldozer also knocked out natural gas service to City Hall and a cement plant, damaging a truck and part of a utility service center, Xcel Energy spokesman Mark Stutz said.
Granby is a town of about 2,200 at nearly 8,000 feet. It is near the Winter Park ski resort and not far from the edge of Rocky Mountain National Park.
The scene was reminiscent of a 1998 rampage in Alma, another town in the Colorado Rockies. Authorities said Tom Leask shot a man to death, then used a town-owned front-end loader to heavily damage the post office, fire department, water department and town hall.
does anybody remember the great movie "killdozer"? mike nelson of mst3k would know what I mean.
Interesting to see if the bulldozer will run out of fuel before Granby runs out of town.
And the gun is the story. Natch.
Bump