PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — A Southern Oregon man was found guilty of several crimes after a boobytrap in his home went off and shot an FBI bomb technician, authorities said.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, in September 2018, Oregon State Police and FBI went to a home formerly owned by Gregory Lee Rodvelt, 71, who had lost the house in a lawsuit.
According to court documents, upon learning that someone had been appointed to sell the house, Rodvelt boobytrapped it.
Bomb technicians arrived at the house and said they found a minivan blocking the gate with steel animal traps attached to a gate post and under the hood of the minivan.
They said they also found that the gate was rigged so that when opened, a hot tub would roll toward the person who had opened the gate.
The house itself had been barred from the inside with security doors at the front and back entrances, and apparent bullet holes going through the front door.
In the house’s garage, the technicians said they found a rat trap that had been modified to fire a shotgun shell and it was rigged to go off when the garage door opened.
An explosive charge was used to breach the front door and when they entered, the technicians said they found a wheelchair in the center of the entryway.
When the wheelchair was bumped, a homemade shotgun was triggered which fired and hit one of the technicians in the leg.
On June 2, Rodvelt was found guilty of assaulting a federal officer and discharging a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, which are punishable by up to 20 years and up to life in prison respectively.
Rodvelt’s sentencing is set for a later date.