Farmer Sows Revenge Against Cops with Tractor Rampage

A 34-year-old Vermont farmer who apparently had some lingering resentment over a pot arrest last month allegedly used his parents' tractor to exact some get-back against his local police department. The Burlington Free Press reports that on Thursday afternoon, Robert Pion used the massive red tractor to smash more than half of the Orleans County Sheriff’s Department's entire fleet of vehicles, laying waste to seven cars, including fully-stocked patrol cars, unmarked vehicles, and a van -- doing some 250 thousand dollars' worth of damage in the process.

The Free Press reports Pion then used the tractor as a getaway vehicle and fled the scene, aided by the fact that cops had no cars left to pursue him. They were forced to hitch rides with civilians in order to give chase.

A neighboring police department's officers eventually pulled him over, and Pion allegedly tried to back the 20-thousand-pound tractor into their vehicle as well. He was apprehended at gunpoint, and was found to be carrying a firearm, but he didn't try to use it.

Pion remains behind bars on 50 thousand dollars bond while he awaits arraignment Tuesday on a host of charges, including seven counts of felony unlawful mischief, leaving the scene of an accident, and aggravated assault on Newport City police.