Ohio Man Accused Of Ramming Pittsburgh FBI Gate Pleads Guilty
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PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- The Ohio man accused of fleeing from police in a dump truck and crashing into the gates of the FBI's Pittsburgh field office in 2016 has pleaded guilty.
The incident happened on July 26, 2016 on the South Side.
According to a criminal complaint, a police officer on a motorcycle spotted a dump truck speeding down a street in the wrong lane and going around vehicles that stopped for a red light.
The officer attempted to pull the dump truck over, but the driver -- identified as 49-year-old Thomas Ross -- kept going. As he was driving, he went around stopped vehicles using the oncoming lane of traffic and went through eight red lights.
During the chase, the officer pulled alongside the vehicle and told Ross to stop, but he just waved his arm out the window.
Ross eventually pulled up to the gate area of the FBI Building, revving his engine and yelling, "I need to see the FBI. I have a bomb and will blow this place up. I'm gonna ram this [expletive] gate. This is abuse." The officer pointed his gun at Ross and told him to turn off the vehicle and get out.
Ross backed the dump truck up several feet, then crashed through the gate.
The criminal complaint says Ross was taken to a local hospital for treatment. Investigators determined Ross's dump truck did not have any explosives in it.
While Ross was being transported from the hospital to the Allegheny County Jail, he attempted to run from police, but was caught.
Ross pleaded guilty to one count of simple assault, one count of fleeing or attempting to elude and two summary traffic violations Monday.
He was sentenced to 5 to 10 months in jail, with credit for time served, followed by three years probation.