One of the things some kids like to do is put pencil to paper and draw up renditions of outlandish ideas for impossible gadgets and machines. A lot of the time, those devices blow things up or launch the kid they don’t like into the sun.
Most of us outgrow that phase – both the inventive daydreaming and the unmitigated, cartoonish violence – long before adulthood. But when someone never does, it turns out that they can do some very real harm.
Ornery Cuss
Not everybody is well-liked by all of the people in their lives. But with even the most ornery cuss, the one person who usually stays in your corner through thick and thin is your dear old mother. Not so for Gregory.
Treat Your Mother Right
Things were so bad that in 2016 Gregory’s 90-year-old mother took him to court, suing him as part of an elder-abuse case. According to court records, the suit resulted in a $2.1 million judgment against the man.
Legal History
It wasn’t the first time Gregory was defending his actions in a court of law. In fact, he was already in jail awaiting trial after he’d had an armed standoff with a police officer outside of phoenix in 2017.
Property Exchange
There was no way that he would be able to pay over $2 million to his mother, which meant that Gregory would likely have to hand over his most valuable asset: his home. He was released from jail for two weeks.
Reservations
On August 22, 2018, a Josephine County judge appointed attorney Joseph Charter to take possession of the Gregory’s home in order to sell it off, using the proceeds to pay his mother. But Charter had reservations about just going out to the property before it was checked over by the authorities.
Dangerous History
Charter was concerned that it might be unsafe, considering that Gregory Rodvelt had a significant criminal past. In addition to arrests for DUI and drugs, he had a proven history of violence that included domestic abuse, assault with a deadly weapon and most alarmingly to the lawyer, a charge for unlawful possession of explosives.
Potential Explosives
Even if Gregory didn’t have any malicious intent there was the possibility that he had some explosive devices he’d made or left uncompleted in the home and the attorney had no kind of expertise with such things, should he encounter them. Some neighbors had seen Gregory on the property several days prior to the judge’s order, meaning that if he did have hostile intent, he could have laid traps.
Dire Warning
The biggest cause for concern of all was the ominous sign Charter saw a warning that the property was protected by “improvised devices.” Accordingly, the judge arranged for the property to be properly secured by a team of law enforcement agents, including explosives experts.
Real Threat
On September 7, that team approached the property to sweep and secure it. These were professionals who knew that, despite Rodvelt’s lack of official training or expertise, anyone with bad intentions and enough time on their hands could come up with all sorts of dangerous things. They weren’t surprised when they were met with a trap before they even reached the front gate.
Minivan Trap
There was a minivan, blocking the gate that “was rigged with two booby traps,” according to the criminal complaint. “The booby traps utilized steel traps with steel teeth commonly used to trap wild animals. They were able to neutralize the steel traps without issue but encountered another hazard almost immediately
Straight Out Of Raiders
Just inside the gate, the technicians found a hot tub that was turned up on its side, apparently rigged to “roll toward the person at the gate much like the scene from the movie ‘Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark’ in which actor Harrison Ford is forced to outrun a giant stone boulder.”
Explosive Entry
In the garage, the authorities found a trap that was still a work in progress, which was a rat trap that would seemingly cause a shotgun shell to fire when the door was opened. When they moved on to the main house, they were no longer willing to take any chances moving through unsecure doorways. They decided to blow the door.
A Wheelchair?
After deploying an explosive charge to make their way inside, they found a suspicious fishing line behind the door and a wheelchair positioned in front of them. As several specialist entered the residence, someone must have triggered something because there was a loud bang.
Man Down
One of the FBI agents yelled out “I’m hit!” and a “significant amount of blood” was pouring from his leg. They quickly rushed the agent to a nearby hospital where an object that “appeared to be shaped like a small pellet” was taken out of his leg.
Shotgun Blast
The pellet, which had struck the agent just below his left knee, was later identified as a .410-gauge shotgun pellet. When the property was later searched, the authorities found a spent shotgun shell casing that appeared to be from the improvised device that injured the agent.
Apprehended
The authorities had little trouble searching down Gregory Rodvelt and he was back in custody the day after the search. Because the sweep of the home had been put on hold when the FBI agent was injured, the authorities had plenty of questions for him.
No Denials
When interviewed, Gregory admitted to setting up the Indiana Jones-style hot tub trap as well as several of the other tripwire devices the search team had already found. But when asked about what other dangers they might find when they went back, he chose to remain tight-lipped.
Words Of Warning
Instead of giving specifics on what booby traps he’d left ready and waiting, Rodvelt cryptically said “I would not race right in.” You could be sure that in the future, they wouldn’t be taking that advice lightly.
Felony Offense
Because of the injury that the FBI agent had sustained, Gregory would have even more legal troubles to deal with. This time, it would be a felony count of assault of a federal officer, something that could put him behind bars for more than a decade.
Plenty Of Neighbors
While everyone wants to be left alone at one point or another, Gregory Rodvelt took the idea to a whole other level. For a man who couldn’t even get along with his own mother, he probably won’t have the easiest time making friends if and when he ends up in prison.
