A NSW man was arrested on Monday morning on charges of attempted murder after he bulldozed and destroyed a house and four vehicles.
News reports stated that as many as eleven charges, including theft, damage of property and attempted murder, are expected to be included in the rap sheet of 48-year-old Jamie Sagar from Teralba near Newcastle, New South Wales.
The man is alleged to have stolen a bulldozer from a nearby mine and proceeded to crush four vehicles and a house in the town.
Bulldozer believed to have been stolen from local mine at Teralba near Newcastle. @nbnnews pic.twitter.com/ewtgq4ErtK
— Jane Goldsmith (@janegoldnbn) June 8, 2015
News reports stated that Deborah Kerr and her two daughters who were inside the house at the time escaped moments before it was knocked down by the crazed man who was known to the family.
The man’s motive is not clear, but police said he was known to the occupants of the house and had previously lived with the family. The charges against him will now also include breaching a court order which had banned him from assault and intimidation against one of the residents of the house he had destroyed.
Police reports on Monday said that the man drove the bulldozer to the suburban house, crushing three cars parked in front of it and another parked at the side of the property and that his motives were unclear.
According to a 29-year-old eyewitness the alleged perpetrator headed towards a detached garage on the property, said police, where the man was sleeping at that time.
“When he heard the bulldozer coming over the top of the cars, he came out of the shed,” police spokesman David Matthews told the ABC.
According to the eye witness the driver of the bulldozer briefly pursued the him but he ran away, scaled a fence, and sought shelter in a paddock next door.
The driver then turned towards the back of the house and flattened the building.
A neighbour ran over and helped a 56-year-old woman and her two daughters, aged 15 and 20, from their home shortly before the building was knocked down.
Police were called to the scene around 07:30 local time.
According to police reports officers managed to stop the bulldozer when it got stuck after it knocked down the house.
“(An officer) couldn’t get into the bulldozer because the doors were secured so he smashed the window of the bulldozer and delivered an entire can of OC spray (pepper spray) into the cabin, which incapacitated the driver,” Inspector Matthews said.
The driver is being questioned at Charlestown police station.