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FBI Agent Shot by Booby-Trapped Wheelchair
The bomb specialists suspected that an Oregon home was booby-trapped. As they entered the front door, they noticed what appeared to be a tripwire. Seconds later, a shot rang out, apparently from a booby-trapped wheelchair. And an FBI bomb special agent was hit in the leg. Sixty-seven-year-old Gregory Lee Rodvelt, the man who used to live at this home in Williams, Ore., has been charged with assaulting a federal officer. And before the highly trained team even entered the house, it encountered a series of traps that are straight out of the adventures of Indiana Jones.
This started on Aug. 22, when a judge in Josephine County appointed attorney Joseph Charter to take possession of the property where Rodvelt resided in order to sell it. According to the criminal complaint, Charter asked authorities from the FBI and Oregon State Police to clear the property. He had reason to think it might be unsafe. Rodvelt had previously been charged with unlawful possession of explosives but was released to attend the property hearing. Several days prior to the judge's order, neighbors had seen Rodvelt at the property. There was another, more direct warning: Charter told the authorities that he spotted a sign "warning that the property was protected by improvised devices."
Also at OregonLive.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by urza9814 on Wednesday October 03 2018, @03:22PM (6 children)
...for what reason? The article doesn't seem to say, but I would say that's a pretty important point. It's one thing if you booby trap your house just before selling it; it's quite another if you trap it and then it gets sold against your will while you're in prison and couldn't go disarm the thing even if you wanted to.
Second question is whether the traps themselves would be considered illegal. If not, then I see no reason he should be charged for assaulting an agent; but if the traps *are* illegal then why isn't he being charged with that as well? In most states it is legal to shoot an intruder only in self-defense. You can shoot someone who breaks in pointing a gun at you, but you can't shoot an unarmed intruder in the back as they're running away. Since these traps would fire regardless of who is present and regardless of any danger posed to the occupant, then I would think they *could* be illegal by themselves...but if that's the case, then that should be part of the charges. If it's not part of the charges, then it seems like the prosecutor admitting that the traps themselves *aren't* illegal, in which case the totally predictable effect of those traps which the victims were expecting and explicitly warned about shouldn't be a crime either.
Where the hell is the rest of the story here?
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday October 03 2018, @03:42PM (5 children)
No reason needed - bastard has blue eyes! You can't trust blue eyes! /sarcasm
You ought to look at his photo, though. Dude looks about as creepy as Charles Manson. https://www.didntdoitbailbonds.com/maricopa-county-inmate-search/gregory-rodvelt-t354703/ [didntdoitbailbonds.com] https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/fbi-agent-shot-booby-trapped-wheelchair-oregon-home-n915931 [nbcnews.com]
Yesterday, I did a search on the guy, when I saw the story in the queue. The story title seemed just a little misleading - I thought some guy in a wheelchair had rigged his chair with a gun. Not so.
Anyway, Rodvelt and some other old coot had some kind of falling out. A civil case awarded the property to the other coot. This is part of Rodvelt "getting even" with his one time buddy.
http://www.ptleader.com/news/law_justice/swansonville-man-pleads-not-guilty-posts-bond-after-shooting/article_9ae7972e-6f06-11e6-8ad5-7b387d3f6d30.html [ptleader.com]
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 03 2018, @03:53PM (2 children)
Really? Are you unaware of the "trick" they use of finding the best/worst photo of someone to sway opinion.
Didn't you see the progression of photos they used for that FBI agent Lisa Page? Originally all her pictures looked like crap, then all of a sudden she started looking glamorous and Trump began calling her "lovely"... and later we find out it was just then she began cooperating with the FBI.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday October 03 2018, @04:00PM (1 child)
There are at least two mugshots of Gregory on the intarwebs. Choose your own poison.
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 03 2018, @07:09PM
Wow, choosing between mugshots...
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Wednesday October 03 2018, @08:24PM (1 child)
What I read on OregonLive was that he was accused of Elder Abuse.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday October 03 2018, @11:26PM
elderberries?