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Demian Warner / The Newport Daily Express
Police say a man drove a tractor over eight police vehicles Thursday. The damage is estimated to be about $250,000.
A man driving a farm tractor ran over eight vehicles in the parking lot of a Vermont police station in an apparent revenge scheme, according to local reports.
Police said Roger Pion, 34, of Newport, Vt., flattened seven marked police cruisers and one unmarked personal vehicle at the Orleans County Sheriff’s Department in Derby, Vt., around 12:40 p.m. Thursday.
“We came out and sure enough there was someone who had run over our cruisers with a tractor,” Chief Dep. Philip Brooks of the Orleans County Sheriff’s Dept. told WCAX.
Not only were their roofs and hoods caved in, but “the radios are ruined, the radar detectors, the cages in the cars … We’re going to have to get the jaws of life up here to pry the trunks open and see about the rifles and shotguns,” Sheriff Kirk Martin told the Associated Press.
With the vehicles crushed, police had no way to pursue Pion after he drove off in the tractor.
Demian Warner / The Newport Daily Express
Police say Roger Pion took out more than half of the sheriff department's fleet -- some of its newest vehicles were only four months old.
“It felt like I was in a Monster Jam rally or something,” witness Rene Morris told WCAX. “I just couldn’t believe it. He’s backing up, going over it, turns around, makes his way to the other vehicles smashes those up, did his business and headed right down Route 5.”
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Police eventually caught up with Pion a mile and a half from the police station and arrested him. The motive is still under investigation, but witnesses believe Pion was angry about his recent arrest for marijuana possession and resisting arrest.
Stephanie Dasaro / Vermont State Police
Police arrested Roger Pion of Newport, V.T., after the tractor incident. He also was arrested recently for marijuana possession and resisting arrest.
The damage is estimated to be about $250,000, according to police.
No one was injured. At least two deputies had gone inside a few moments before after washing their vehicles, officers said.
Brooks said the destroyed vehicles constituted more than half of the fleet of sheriff’s cruisers in the rural county on the Canadian border. The others were out on patrol. Since the incident, neighboring counties have offered their help.
“We have other county sheriff’s departments who are offering cruisers to us,” Brooks said. “We’ve already had one county that’s dropped one off to us and we’ve got two others that are on the way.”
It’s not known where Pion got the tractor but police said he comes from a farm family.
Demian Warne / The Newport Daily Express
Police don't know where Pion got the tractor from but say he comes from a farm family.
Pion was held at the Northern State Correctional Center in Newport in lieu of $15,000 bail.
He is expected to appear in Orleans County Criminal Court Friday to answer to seven counts of felony unlawful mischief, one count of misdemeanor unlawful mischief, one count of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, one count of gross negligent operation, and one count of leaving the scene of an accident.
A man driving a tractor crushes 7 police vehicles parked at a sheriff's department headquarters in Vermont. NBCNews.com's Dara Brown reports.
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Leave a Comment:
" and one count of leaving the scene of an accident."
As a few posters pointed out earlier, looks like it was more of an "on purpose" as opposed to an accident.
The ol' boy probably got the idea from a couple of old shows(i.e. Smokey & the Bandit, Dukes of Hazzard,etc).
Nobody was hurt/maimed so yes, it is quite funny(won't be for the perp though).
This pot smoker wasted 250K of tax payers money and he's probably going to jail...Obama another pot smoker, wasted over 5 TRILLION $ That's 10 Zero's folks... and half of you people believe that he's a God send and you want him back for four more years... Wake up! Both these guys are crooks!
4 more yrs, 4 more yrs, 4 more yrs
Leave it to a racist to drag Obama into a discussion that has absolutely NOTHING to do with him.
in the spirit of devil's advocacy... is wasting money the same as stealing money... maybe crooks isn't the best word... perhaps inconsiderate fool would be better?
This is some funny stuff!! Won't change any thing but he sure did some damage and right in front of the cop shop. The cops lost out on this one!! Go people!!
I can sure appreciate this guys sense of humor.
Love it !! If more ppl had the balls to to this kinda stuff maybe we would'nt have dui checkpoints and "safety" checkpoints and all the other illegal unconstitutional crap we put up with..
Ryche, I hope he dates your daughter when he gets out.
54buick - the more you post, the dumber you look.
Mark, you've looked stupid from the beginning. No improvement in sight.
The military should hire this guy as a tactile genius! Crush there transportation and make his get away as they try to saddle their backup horses! Unfortunately, he didn't have the presence of mind to put his opportunity to good use. He probably should have cut the phone lines first so headquarters couldn't call the stables for new steads.
In wake of this tradigy,Illonois Governor proposes ban on Tractors--KneeJerkPress reporter O.H. Really
The cops couldn't hear the metal crunching over the sound of their lip smacking while eating their donuts and checking their pension plans.
I take it they caught this guy by running after the tractor. Interesting day at the office.
I hope because of this the Fed doesn't try to ban tractors.
too funny. Too bad he didn't get all the scum police cruiser's. The last one who pulled me over, was a lying scumbag, gave me tickets for no insurance even though I waved my insurance papers in his face, that c*cksucker. You know if I was on that jury, he'd walk in a heartbeat.
UNEMPLOYMENT AT 8.3%???!!! OBAMA sucks, OBAMA blows, I pray for the day OBAMA GOES!!! LMFAO
Grow up, ahole. This discussion has absolutely nothing to do with Obama. Only a racist would bring him up.
i didn't realize obama was the one riding the tractor... oh wait..he wasn't? then....
Oh wait, You don't ride a tractor, You Drive it.
I hope the Cops get their New Squads and that this guy Doesn't have to do too much time. This could be a Big Win for the town. No one injured. GREAT...
As the Chain gang Captain in the movie Cool Hand Luke said, "what we have here is a failure to communicate."
Damn, let me help post his bail!!
There's plenty of bad cops out there, but as a whole, they are a deterrent to bad behavior. If there were no cops on the street, a normally functioning society would be impossible. So you fools who are congratulating this moron are as stupid as he is.
leaving the scene of an accident will never stand up in court, this was intentional.... way to go man! where was this? dunkin donuts?
LMFAO - Toooooooo funny
What a tractor! How many miles per gallon OR gallons per mile does that tractor get?
Look on the positive side, this dude showed some restraint as he could have been one of the "Nugent" types and used an AK47 "deer rifle" instead to resolve his problem with the cops!
They don't get Miles per Gallon. Tractors are calculated by the "Hours" per gallon.
"...You in a whole lotta trouble, boy..."
I like this solution. No one got shot. The act was pure protest. No AR-15 No shooter in a home that the police had to pursuade to put down his gun or be shot. I have long advocated the legalization of marijuana. I was offered my first joint in 1968 in NYC. I turned it down. I was in Law School and did not think a marijuana conviction would be something to risk. Also, I like to imbibe in vino and brew. These are legal and result in taxation which is used for roads, schools, public employee salaries etc. Illegal drugs sales generate no tax revenue. Legalize Marijuana and give out tickets for driving under in influence like we do for booze.
Yes Mr policeman...karma can be a real witch.
Take a look at this guy's face. Did anyone else think he looks just a little familiar? I kept wondering who the hell this guy looks like. Remember Redd Foxx ( Fred Sanford )? It's the eyes & the sad downturned mouth. A YOUNG Redd Foxx.....but .....
1) How did the police not notice??
2) Don't the police have insurance? Or is it different for government cars? If they have insurance, it shouldn't be tax payers money should it? Haha! Or does the government just decide to not pay insurance? Haha!
3) Can we talk about "making a statement"?
4) I'm not much for farming, but as far as I know most tractors don't get to a very high speed.... I feel one of the officers could have biked or something long enough to catch up..... Just saying.
We need more of this too happen...
As long as the public stays passive the 1% War on drugs which is actually a War on Citizens will never end...