FBI gate-crashing suspect set for federal court appearance
PITTSBURGH (AP) – An Ohio man charged with ramming a dump truck through the security gate of the FBI’s Pittsburgh field office this past summer is set to appear before a federal magistrate.
Forty-nine-year-old Thomas Ross, of New Waterford, was indicted in January on a charge of willfully injuring or committing depredation against any property of the United States.
He faces a preliminary hearing March 23 on separate charges in state court for the incident July 26 in which he claimed to have a bomb when Pittsburgh police stopped him for running red lights, only to drive away and smash into the FBI gate. No explosives were found.
Ross faces up to 10 years in prison on the federal charge that’s prompting his initial appearance Friday afternoon.
He’s represented by the federal public defender’s office which doesn’t comment.