DALLAS (AP) — A man repeatedly rammed his pickup truck into the Fox television affiliate’s building in downtown Dallas before police detained him on Wednesday, though authorities said they don’t believe he was targeting the media.
Police said in a news release that Michael Chadwick Fry was taken into custody Wednesday morning after he intentionally crashed into the building and scattered papers outside with information on a police shooting.
He was charged with criminal mischief.
Fry repeatedly crashed into the large windows near the entrance of the building that houses KDFW at around 6 a.m., smashing several of them. The truck hit an unoccupied administrative side of the building before office workers arrived for the day.
After ramming the building for the final time, Fry “jumped out and started ranting,” KDFW said in a statement. He wasn’t able to get inside the building.
Anchor and reporter Brandon Todd said the man was yelling about “high treason,” and that he clearly believed he had been wronged and that someone was trying to kill him.
“It’s not real clear to what his message was,” according to Todd.
At one point, the man later identified as Fry pulled an orange duffel bag out of his truck, causing onlookers to back away, Todd said. Police Senior Cpl. Debra Webb said a bomb squad later determined that the bag didn’t contain any suspicious devices.
The incident didn’t interrupt the station’s 7 a.m. newscast.
Online Denton County records show that Fry has been booked into jail more than two dozen times since 2003 on a variety of crimes, including public intoxication and arson.