FBI agents ambushed by booby-trapped home in Oregon; suspect faced charges in Arizona

PHOENIX (KSAZ) -- He was released from an Arizona prison so he could go handle a civil case in Oregon, but Gregory Lee Rodvelt did more than that.

Authorities in Oregon arrested Rodvelt, after he allegedly booby trapped a home he used to own.

Rodvelt is now facing new charges with assault of a federal officer, after he the allegedly incident in Southern Oregon, where an FBI agent was injured as a search team tried to access the 15-acre facility.

"Officers say they saw the wire, they couldn't see what it was attached to," said bankruptcy trustee Joe Charter, in a phone interview. "Somehow, the wheelchair got bumped, the device went off and the agent got injured."

Rodvelt was in jail in Arizona, awaiting trial on unrelated charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. He was allowed to travel to Oregon to handle the civil case involving the piece of land he lost previously.

"When he was taken into custody in Arizona, he had a manual for making improvised devices," said Charter.

That set off alarm bells for Charter, who came back to check on the property.

"It did not appear that anyone was at home," said Charter. "There were indications that someone had been there."

When the FBI arrived, that's when they discovered the devices rigged on the property.

"They discovered various traps, in the van, in the garage," said Charter.

Rodvelt was convicted of the charges he faced in Arizona, and he's now waiting on federal charges in Oregon.

As for the property, it has to be cleaned up before the current owners can sell it.