Oregon man boobytrapped house with rolling hot tub, rigged wheelchair that fired shotgun at FBI technician, officials say

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – An Oregon man was found guilty of several crimes after an FBI bomb technician was injured by a boobytrap the man had placed inside his former home.

In Sept. 2018, FBI agents and officers with the Oregon State Police went to a home formerly owned by Gregory Lee Rodvelt, 71, who had previously lost the house in a lawsuit. Rodvelt, apparently unhappy with the decision, had set several boobytraps throughout the property after learning it would be sold off, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Oregon.

Upon arrival, officials said Rodvelt had set multiple boobytraps, including spike strips on the road, and steel animal traps on the gate and under the hood of a minivan. They said they also found that the gate was rigged so that when opened, a hot tub — which had been placed on its side — would roll toward the person who had opened the gate.

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.

The house itself had been barred from the inside with security doors at the front and back entrances. Bomb technicians used an explosive charge to gain entry to the front door.

Inside the house, the technicians said they found a wheelchair in the center of the 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,” reads a release from the Oregon U.S. Attorney’s Office.

The FBI technician was treated at the scene and transported to a hospital.

Rodvelt was ultimately found guilty of assaulting a federal officer and discharging a firearm “during and in relation to a crime of violence” — crimes punishable by up to 20 years and up to life in prison, respectively. He has yet to be sentenced.