Truck Cameras Capture Shotgun Assault On Repo Agents In MD.

EARLEVILLE — A man remained jailed Thursday after he allegedly pointed a shotgun at two employees as they attempted to repossess a tractor on his Earleville property — an incident that was captured on video, according to Cecil County District Court records.

Investigators identified the suspect as 62-year-old John Walter Booth, who lives in the 200 block of Pinewood Road, where the incident occurred at approximately 12:40 p.m. on Tuesday.

Maryland State Police troopers assigned to the North East Barrack responded to the scene after receiving a dispatch regarding a man pointing a long gun at a repossession worker and refusing to put it down, police said. Troopers later learned that the suspect put the gun back into his shed before they arrived, police added.

The repossession workers — two men, ages 35 and 47 — told investigators that they were on Booth’s property to repossess a tractor; that they contacted Booth; and that they notified him of their intent, court records show.

At that point, according to the charging document, Booth told the workers that they were not taking the tractor and retrieved a shotgun from a nearby shed. Booth racked the shotgun and pointed it at the younger of the two repossession workers, as he sat on the tractor, and then at the other employee, as he retreated to the company truck, court records allege.

Investigators confiscated a shotgun after finding it inside the shed, police said. It was loaded with one round in the chamber and two shells in the tube, police added.

Booth admitted that he armed himself with a shotgun, but he denied that he pointed the weapon at the two workers, police reported.

Video gleaned from a dashboard camera inside the repossession company’s truck, however, corroborated the account given by the two employees, according to the charging document. Investigators watched that footage after one of the workers gave them the camera’s memory card, police noted.

“The memory card was reviewed and confirmed that Booth had obtained the shotgun, loaded a round into the chamber by racking it, and pointed it in the direction of (the two workers),” court records allege.

During a follow-up investigation, a trooper called the Maryland Gun Center and learned that Booth is prohibited from possessing firearms and ammunition because of a conviction on his criminal record, according to court records.