An ex-con on a stolen bulldozer repeatedly rammed the police station in Troy early Friday, tearing down large chunks of the front wall, authorities said.
“He hit it three times,” State Police Sgt. David Griffin said. “He took out the whole front, which included the main entrance to the police department.”
No one was inside the building at the time, but an officer who arrived in the parking lot around 12:30 a.m. witnessed the bulldozer attack and arrested the driver, police said.
In court Friday morning, Stanley Burt, 34, said the police drove him to it.
“I’ve been harassed to the point this has brought this to,” said Burt, wearing a T-shirt depicting a construction excavator. “I want an investigation started.”
Burt has had numerous run-ins with the local police, including 20 driving offenses. He recently was released after serving 12 months in the county jail after being convicted of being a habitual motor vehicle offender. In the bulldozer incident, he was charged with criminal mischief and reckless conduct with a deadly weapon, as well as driving and probation violations.
As bad as the damage in Troy was, Griffin said, it could have been much worse.
Police Officer Kevin Stone and two civilians had been inside the small building about a half hour earlier, he said. Stone pulled into the station parking lot just before 12:30 a.m. to see the bulldozer crashing into his office.
Burt did not enter a plea to the new charges Friday. He was ordered held on $200,000 bail.
Investigators say Burt stole the bulldozer from a nearby construction site.
The strange attack on the police station echoed a similar case three years ago in which a man with a grudge and a fortified bulldozer went on a rampage in the mining town of Granby, Colo. Marvin Heemeyer, a 52-year-old muffler-shop owner who had had zoning battles with the town, went on a 90-minute rampage in 2004 and damaged 13 buildings before killing himself.