Elaborate booby traps at 71-year-old’s Oregon home hurt FBI bomb technician, feds say

A jury convicted an Oregon man of laying elaborate booby traps at his former home, injuring an FBI bomb technician, federal prosecutors reported.

Gregory Lee Rodvelt, 71, formerly of Williams, faces up to life in prison on charges of assaulting a federal officer and discharging a firearm in a crime of violence, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Oregon said in a June 6 news release.

Rodvelt, who lost his home in a lawsuit, set up a series of booby traps on the property in 2018 after learning a receiver had been appointed to sell it, prosecutors said.

Bomb technicians from the FBI and Oregon State Police first found steel animal traps beneath a minivan blocking the gate, officials said. Homemade spike strips also had been placed nearby.

A hot tub placed on its side had been rigged to roll over anyone opening the gate, prosecutors said.

In the garage, bomb technicians found a rat trap modified to fire a shotgun shell at anyone who opened the door, although the device was not loaded, officials said.

After blasting open the front door of the home, bomb technicians found a wheelchair in the entryway. When bumped, the wheelchair fired a shotgun device, prosecutors said.

The shotgun blast hit an FBI bomb technician in his leg below the knee, prosecutors said. His colleagues administered first aid and took the injured man to a hospital.

Rodvelt will be sentenced at a later date, prosecutors said. Williams is a community near the California border about 265 miles south of Portland.

This story was originally published June 7, 2023 at 9:30 AM with the headline "Elaborate booby traps at 71-year-old’s Oregon home hurt FBI bomb technician, feds say."