Advertisement Man faces federal, local charges for ramming truck through Pittsburgh FBI gate Thomas Richard Ross, 48, also visited building on South Side last week, guard says Share Shares Copy Link Copy

The man who crashed a dump truck through the entrance gate of the FBI's Pittsburgh headquarters following a chase by Pittsburgh Police is being held in the Allegheny County Jail and will face both local and federal charges.Video: Watch Beau Berman's reportPolice say Thomas Richard Ross, 48, of New Waterford, Ohio, sped through nine red lights on nearby Carson Street before stopping for a motorcycle officer on South 33rd Street, outside the entrance FBI offices on Pittsburgh's South Side at 10:48 a.m. Tuesday. The FBI building's address is 3311 East Carson Street, but its entrance is on South 33rd.Police said Ross was behaving erratically during the traffic stop, claiming he had a bomb and demanding to speak with FBI agents. Then, they say, Ross crashed the FBI gate with the dump truck."He mentioned to the officer that he was going to ram the gate, and he did just that. Drove through the gate, made it in a short distance and was apprehended at that point," FBI Special Agent Gregory Heeb told Pittsburgh's Action News 4. "We're going to work closely with the city police to try to figure out what his intentions were, what the motive was, what connections he has in the area." Heeb said there was no link to terrorism.Sky 4 photos: Dump truck driver rams front gate of Pittsburgh FBI building"He ran straight through the gates, and he wasn't stopping. The truck kind of flipped. I just panicked, I called 911," said a witness who declined to give her name. She had been driving by with her two children in her car. "My first thing, I thought, it's explosive, you know, a suicide mission bombing at the FBI building, and there's the gas station (nearby)."The Pittsburgh police bomb squad searched the dump truck and found there was no explosive.Nonetheless, the FBI described the damage to the gate as, "pretty significant.""He drove over the barrier, broke our barrier," Heeb said.Ross was taken to UPMC Presbyterian, where police said he tried to escape from custody as he was being transferred to a police cruiser after his hospital visit."Locally, Ross faces numerous charges including aggravated assault, recklessly endangering another person, fleeing and eluding, and various summary driving offenses," said a statement emailed by Pittsburgh Public Safety spokeswoman Emily Schaffer.U.S. Attorney David Hickton announced later Tuesday that federal charges have also been filed in connection with the intentional destruction of the security gate. Hickton's office said the penalty for conviction on all of the federal charges of damaging government property in this case could add up to a total of 30 years in prison and fines totaling up to $500,000.According to the criminal complaint, the 1991 truck was registered in Ross' name.The FBI parking lot security guard said Ross was at the facility one day last week. The guard said Ross was in the same vehicle and parked it in the GetGo parking lot next door at South 33rd Street. The guard said Ross then exited his vehicle and walked over to the wall near the FBI gate and was "messing around." The guard said Ross was confronted by the security officer on duty and stated that he wanted to speak with an FBI agent."When asked why and to see identification, Ross became unstable and erratic. He never saw an agent and left without further incident," the criminal complaint read.Police said they found multiple identification cards on Ross bearing his name but with different addresses, including two in Trafford, one in Ohio and one in Florida.Police also said they found a motel key marked "#15" on Ross.According to the criminal complaint, the damage to the FBI facilities tops $350,000.