A man was shot through the windshield of a stolen front-end loader vehicle after he allegedly attempted to destroy property with it. Photo courtesy of Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office

A Corinna man was shot after he allegedly stole a front-end loader and attempted to “run through” a house in Garland on Tuesday morning, the Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office said.

Residents reported that a man was attempting to steal the front-end loader from a gravel pit on their property along Upper Notch Road around 5:30 a.m. Tuesday, the sheriff’s office said in a written statement.

“Shortly after receiving the initial call, the complainant reported that the front-end loader was now in their driveway, attempting to run through their house,” the office said. “The complainant also mentioned that the machine was destroying vehicles in the driveway.”

Police said the residents left the home and fired several shots into the vehicle, breaking through its windshield and hitting the driver, later identified as 37-year-old Michael Thompson.

A close-up of the bullet holes in the windshield of a front-end loader allegedly stolen in Garland on Tuesday. Photo courtesy of Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office

Thompson then reversed the vehicle and drove down a wooded road, the office said.

The Penobscot Regional Communications Center got another call at 6:10 a.m. about a front-end loader driving on the public streets, and law enforcement officers found the loader on Center Road in Charleston, the office said.

Thompson exited the machine “without incident” and told the officers he had been shot. He was taken to a hospital before being transported to the Penobscot County Jail, where he was booked on charges of aggravated criminal mischief and theft.

The residents were not identified.

An investigation is ongoing, the sheriff’s office said. The office said additional charges “may be pending.” Garland is a town of about 1,000 people located roughly 20 miles northwest of Bangor.