Forget Rage Against the Machine. This is rage with a machine.
A man was arrested in Santa Maria Monday for allegedly using a front loader tractor to crush a woman’s vehicle.
Authorities arrested Levi Gaze, 38, from Paso Robles, for allegedly ramming the front loader into the vehicle several times. A woman was inside the vehicle, “but was able to escape without being seriously injured,” authorities said.
The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office responded to the 911 call just after midnight Monday, on the 1700 block of Sinton Road in Santa Maria.
When deputies arrived, they discovered a vehicle that had been “crushed, sustaining severe damage throughout.”
Authorities said Gaze allegedly used the front loader to destroy the vehicle following a dispute. He was arrested without incident while still sitting behind the whee.
He was booked at the Santa Maria Jail on felony charges of assault with a deadly weapon and vandalism. He was also booked on an outstanding no-bail warrant from San Luis Obispo County. He is being held without bail, authorities said.
