A man has been arrested in the US after a traffic camera was shot three times with a high-powered rifle. Police in Knoxville, Tennessee were on a routine patrol in the early hours of the morning when they heard a number of sounds "consistent with gunfire".
Following a search of the area they saw a man in a people carrier behaving "very suspiciously". When the officers stopped and searched the van they found a high-calibre deer hunting rifle on the floor of the vehicle.
When the driver Clifford Clark III, 47, was questioned, the arresting officer said he stated that he "didn't want to say what he was doing there because he didn't want to get into trouble".
The police subsequently found a red-light camera that had been hit with three high-calibre rounds. Mr Clark was charged with felony vandalism and reckless endangerment.
"There's neighbourhoods all around that area," Captain Gordon Catlett told the Knoxville News Sentinel.
He expressed disbelief that someone would be prepared to open fire in a residential area. "I guarantee you he wouldn't want someone shooting a high-powered rifle around his house," he added.
Capt Catlett went on to say that he had no record of Mr Clark ever having received a fine because of the camera.
In Britain there are many examples of speed cameras being beaten, burned and hacked down by angry motorists. There are so far no known examples of the road-side devices being shot at.
Can they give this guy a medal?
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