Police: Irate man rams SUV, car into post office
Posted on Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Angered that the government owed him money, police said, Glenn Sparling of Ravenden Springs decided to retaliate.
Twice.
Sparling, 65, drove two cars into the Ravenden Springs post office on Sunday afternoon in protest of the U. S. government, Ravenden Springs Police Chief Kevin Montgomery said.
The chief said Sparling told him he used to be a federal employee and that he wasn’t paid fully for his work.
“He told me he hit the post office because it was the closest government building around,” Montgomery said.
Sparling wouldn’t elaborate, Montgomery said.
No one was inside the closed post office on Easter Sunday. Sparling was not injured in either crash, but authorities had to extricate him from the second vehicle through a passenger window because the car was wedged inside the building.
He will face several charges in Randolph County District Court today, including driving while intoxicated.
Sparling first backed a 1984 Chevrolet Blazer into the post office on Arkansas 90 on Sunday afternoon, leaving a gaping hole in the building, Randolph County Sheriff Gary Tribble said. He drove out of the wreckage and headed home, but the Blazer broke down, the sheriff said.
Sparling apparently walked the rest of the way home, got in his red 1972 Ford Mustang and headed back to the post office.
Officers heading out to investigate the first crash saw Sparling driving erratically and attempted to stop him. Instead, he led officers on a high-speed chase for about a mile, Tribble said.
“He ran back to the post office again,” Montgomery said. “He drove it in the hole he made earlier. This time he really crammed it in there. We barely got him out.
“ The Mustang held up well, but he scratched the paint up real bad,” Montgomery said.
Tribble said Sparling has had run-ins with the Ravenden Springs post office before. He broke windows there about 10 years ago and damaged a mail box once.
“He just said he was mad at them,” Tribble said. “We charged him with a bunch of stuff.” Sparling faces two charges of criminal mischief and one charge of vehicle fleeing, both felonies, and 10 misdemeanors, including DWI.
Sparling may also be charged with federal offenses, said Hillrey Adams, manager of postal operations in northeast Arkansas. Adams said he spoke with postal officials in Little Rock who indicated the U. S. attorney’s office intended to charge Sparling. The Ravenden Springs post office was open Monday and business ran as normal as it could, said Charles Roe, a parttime employee there. “We’re sealed up,” Roe said. “We’ve got a plywood wall up. We delivered mail, but we’re not at 100 percent yet. We’re working on it.”
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