Gregory Lee Rodvelt, Assault, Oregon 2023

Medford, Ore.—In a shocking turn of events, a federal jury in Medford has found Gregory Lee Rodvelt, a 71-year-old man from Williams, Oregon, guilty of multiple crimes stemming from the boobytrapping of his former home that injured an FBI bomb technician.

The incident occurred on September 7, 2018, when bomb technicians from Oregon State Police (OSP) and the FBI arrived at the property in Williams to investigate reports of boobytraps. Upon arrival, they observed a minivan blocking the gate and found steel animal traps affixed to a gate post and under the hood of the minivan.

The technicians also located homemade spike strips, which the receiver had previously run over. As the technician neared the residence, they observed a hot tub that had been placed on its side and rigged in a manner that when a gate was opened, it would activate a mechanical trigger causing the spa to roll towards the person who had opened the gate.

The technicians further observed that the windows of the residence had been barred from the inside and there were security doors at the front and rear of the residence. The front door also had what appeared to be bullet holes from shots fired inside. In the garage, they found a rat trap modified to accept a shotgun shell.

When the technicians and two other law enforcement officers gathered near the front of the residence and used an explosive charge to breach the front door, they carefully entered the residence, looking for traps. Inside, they found a wheelchair in the center of the front entryway. When the wheelchair was bumped, it triggered a homemade shotgun device that discharged a .410 shotgun shell that struck the FBI bomb technician below the knee.

Rodvelt will be sentenced at a later date by U.S. District Court Judge Michael J. McShane. The assault on a federal officer with a deadly or dangerous weapon is punishable by up to 20 years in federal prison. Using and discharging a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence is punishable by up to life in federal prison.

This case was investigated by the FBI with assistance from OSP and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). It was prosecuted by Judith R. Harper and Jeffrey S. Sweet, Assistant U.S. Attorneys for the District of Oregon.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-or/pr/jury-convicts-southern-oregon-man-after-boobytrapped-home-injures-federal-officer