Police: Man Shot Trying to Ram Stolen Wheel Loader into Home
The occupants of the house came out firing their guns, striking the loader and wounding the man.
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A man was reportedly shot after he tried to use a stolen wheel loader to ram a house in Garland, Maine, according to police.
The Penobscot Sheriff’s Office reported receiving a call at 5:30 a.m. January 14 about people trying to steal a large wheel loader from a gravel pit. Soon after a nearby resident called in to say the wheel loader was “in their driveway, attempting to run through their house.”
The caller added that the loader had been used to destroy vehicles in the driveway.
People inside the home came outside and began firing guns at the loader, hitting in three times in the windshield.
“The machine then reversed out of the driveway and fled the scene,” the Sheriff’s Office said. “It crossed a large field and went down a woods road.”
Three bullets struck the wheel loader that was later recovered by police.Penobscot County Sheriff's Office
The loader was stopped by police, and the man, identified as 37-year-old Michael Joseph Thompson of Corinna, surrendered without incident. He told police he had been shot, and he was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment. After discharge, he was arrested and transported to the Penobscot County Jail.
He has been charged with aggravated criminal mischief, theft by unauthorized use of property and reckless conduct.
