Posted on 07/20/2010 9:27:59 AM PDT by Attention Surplus Disorder
By Anne Sullivan
TRENTON — Police are looking for a man accused of damaging engines as they were being built at the Chrysler Trenton South Engine Plant.
Robert Allen Colling, 55, of Washington Township is wanted on one count of attempted malicious destruction of personal property.
It is a felony charge that carries a penalty of 2 1/2 years in prison or a $5,000 fine, police Sgt. Mark Enright said.
“Chrysler (officials) found some bolts in engine blocks, and apparently there were witnesses who saw him walking in the area (and) drop bolts into a cylinder head,” he said. “They did some surveillance, got witnesses and got enough information for charges.”
The bulk of the investigation was conducted by Chrysler plant security personnel, Enright said. Security officers showed police the information they gathered.
Detectives wrote the complaint and forwarded it to the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office, and charges were filed, Enright said.
Officers sent a letter to Colling’s house in an attempt to contact him, but got no response. Officers went to his house, but were unable to find him.
Colling has not returned to work, Enright said.
“This is very serious,” he said. “You can’t be putting bolts in engine blocks.”
Although he is eluding police now, that won’t be the case forever, Enright said.
“He will get caught sooner or later, someplace,” Enright said. “There is an outstanding warrant for statewide arrest.”
Anyone with information on Colling’s whereabouts is asked to call police at 1-734-676-3737.
Trying to duplicate GM reliability, no doubt?
(Typed as a former owner of some of GM’s worst.)
Exactly how many engines did this fellow “create or save”?
I suppose that depends on which GM model you owned.
I’ve had a few Chrysler products also. Some good....some bad.
None of my Chryslers were able to match some of my Chevies.
Then, I have an edge.
I am a gearhead.
Gee, who but Chrysler managment and unionized labor have access to engines under manufacture at Chrysler? Must have been those Republicans again.
/johnny
One doesn’t need to drop a bolt into the cylinder to destroy a Chrysler engine. You simply need to turn it on and it will destroy itself!
Sounds like a typical union extortion/protection scheme. Things like this go on all the time. Union reps say “This will cause trouble” or “give us this and things will run smoothly”. The man destroying the engines was a union man and was probably told by his union boss to do this.
Maybe he’s found a new way to go Galt. I think this may cross a line, however.
This could actually be union-sanctioned activity! They closed down the Chrysler plant in my neck-of-the-woods, Twinsburg, Ohio, yesterday. The closure was announced some time ago. Union can’t be too happy about that!
2 1/2 years seems awfully light. I presume tests at the factory would expose this before ever hitting the showroom.
Still......this needs to be punished severely. I’m afraid this is symptomatic of what’s coming down the pike with union and public “service” employees. More militancy, more problems.
People going Galt do not destroy the property of others.
Give the Union a chance ... hemay end up with Hoffa.
Having bits and pieces of the valve train suddenly fly through the hood is a lot more kind than several frustrating years of Chrysler product ownership.
Just kidding. The family battlewagon Grand Caravan is great.
The date for a new union contract is coming up in the near future?
That’s why I said he may have crossed a line.
I believe this actovity could be, however, a “cousin” to Gandhi’s “civil disobedience” sort of thing. I mean, it IS a government owned company. Along the lines of Jewish slaves sabotaging the bombs they were making for the Nazis.
In no way am I justifying it. I’m just trying to get into the guy’s head.
Give the Union a chance ... he may end up with Hoffa.
I Dunno. I have 145k on my 300M engine. So far it still feels like new. I changed the plugs at 110k when the huge gaps blew out one of the coils. :)
My LeBaron convertible had a terrible transmission but the engine was strong when I dumped it for my Scion xB at 135k miles. But that was a Mitsubishi engine so it may not count.
I had really bad luck with GM. My 1980 Buick Skylark was the last GM product I ever owned. My Vega sucked too, but my 1954 station wagon was sweet!
Correct me if I am mistaken, but when Stroke took over both GM and Chrysler(Unconstitutional as all hell), didn’t he basically put the Mob....err....UAW in charge??
I can see this being the standard issue Thug....err....UNION tactic....so what’s up?
We had a Grand Caravan with the 3.0 Mitsubishi (same people that gave us Pearl Harbor) throw away engine. I was able to actually put 90K on that before I have to replace it (the engine). Typically, that boat anchor would last for 60 - 70K then it was time to start rebuilding or replacing it.
Now...my 1990 Chevy Silverado....different story. When I sold it last year, it had 332K on the original engine. I got the top Blue Book price for it, cash, and the guy that bought it didn’t even try to talk me down a nickel. He was also the first to call about it (that didn’t say “Se Habla Espanol?”) from the pics that I had posted on Craig’s List.
Again, being a gearhead has it’s benefits. :)
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