Man repeatedly slams pickup into city hall over water service being shut off

TANEYTOWN, Md. — A Maryland man is facing a long list of charges for allegedly slamming his pickup into city hall in Taneytown.

Police said he purposely plowed the truck into the building over and over again on Friday. The suspect was angry over losing water service at home.

"We're a small community. And when something like this happens, it affects everybody here," said Taneytown Mayor Bradley Wantz.

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Wantz is still trying to wrap his head around what happened at city hall.

Police said Rodney Davis, 55, drove his pickup truck into city hall a number of times, angry over the city turning the water off at his home. Witnesses described it as terrifying.

"He backed off and hit full throttle, again and again, and back out. He must have done that, I don't know, four more times," Marvin Flickinger told WBAL.

According to charging documents, about an hour before this incident Davis' wife contacted councilman Joe Vigliotti to talk about the family's water being shut off.

Vigliotti told police that while he was talking to her, Rodney Davis aggressively stated that he was "done with the city and he had (expletive) had it and that he was going to (expletive) crash into the office and that he was going to go down to the police department and give them a surprise."

Vigliotti immediately called the police and the mayor, but it was too late.

"Essentially, if it had happened two hours earlier, there would've been people in that office that would've been harmed, if not worse," said Wantz.

There was one person inside, but they were not injured.

Charging documents indicate there were at least six witnesses and security camera footage was taken into custody.

The mayor said some workers have been relocated as they work on a fix, trying to get back to business as usual.

"I think so far, for a tragedy that has been unforeseen for a city like Taneytown, I think we are doing well getting through it, and I'm proud of the people doing the job," said Wantz.

Davis has been slapped with charges of burglary, assault, destruction of property and traffic violations. He's now out on bond.

City council will meet at the fire station Wednesday night because, as of Tuesday, city hall was still unsafe to enter.

CNN/WBAL