Rowan County News
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Charlotte, North Carolina |
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Man shoots down blimp with shotgun
06:02 PM EDT on Wednesday, April 21, 2004
SALISBURY, N.C. -- Competition between two car dealerships may have gone
too far after a man fired a shotgun hitting an advertisement blimp for
one Salisbury dealership.
Car sales is a competitive industry and dealers like Cloninger Ford
Toyota in Salisbury will go that extra mile to attract customers, like
hiring an advertising blimp from Carolina Airships. The blimp was flying
for nearly five hours before its flight ended abruptly.
According to a police report, Tim Wyatt was flying the blimp in a field
next to Team Chevrolet, but it was leased by Cloninger.
Police said a man got out of a black truck next to the car wash at Team
Chevrolet. Wyatt said a man pulled out a shotgun and took several shots
at the blimp. Police do not know who was driving the truck, but they do
know who owns it.
"The truck was bearing a North Carolina dealer registration plate that
is registered to Team Chevrolet," said Mark Wilhelm, Salisbury Police
Chief.
Joshua Castro works at the Sagebrush Steakhouse located in between the
dealerships. Police told him about the shootings just after it happened.
"It sounds like either a childish game, or they were getting back at
Toyota Cloninger for flying a blimp over their building," Castro said.
Cloninger's David Wilson said in a statement, "There is competition
between all car dealerships. Our main goal is to sell cars. This
incident is not about sales, it's a bad situation brought about because
of bad judgment."
Ken Jackson of Team Chevrolet-Cadillac-Geo said, "Because this case is
still under police investigation we choose to have no comment at this
time."
Wyatt said an initial report that the shooter pointed the gun at him is
not true.
Police said civil negotiations are going on and it's up to the victims,
Wyatt and Carolina Airships, to pursue criminal charges or not.
Carolina Airships, the owners of the blimp, estimate the damage at
$10,000. It is being repaired at the plant where it was built in Fort
Mill, South Carolina.
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