Former City Employee Attacks Sewage Plant With Car

A sewage plant in Florida was targeted in an attack by a former city employee last month.

“The West Palm Beach city spokesman says Douglas Ellington was on their radar, but there was no indication he would target the city's sewage plant,” WPTV recently reported.

Ellington was arrested driving his car into the sewage plant and setting it on fire,” the report said, citing investigators.

“City spokesman Elliot Cohen says there was also an indication that an explosive could be somewhere else at the plant. That explosive turned out to be fake, and bomb threats in Riviera Beach connected to the incident also turned up no real explosives,” the report said.

“Ellington, 52, was arrested at the East Central Regional Water Reclamation Facility, just east of Florida's Turnpike and north of Roebuck Road,” the Sun-Sentinel reported.

Cohen explained that Ellington had drawn attention to his behavior.

"The police have been involved in this since the beginning. As far as when he was dismissed, fired in 2011, and soon after that if he started sending emails, all those emails are sent over to the police department," Cohen said, per WPTV.

"City Hall security was well aware of him. Up until this point all of his contact was with people at City Hall. So we did not put out any kind of a.... we have hundreds of properties so there was no indication if would involve the sewage plant," Cohen said.

Cohen added that authorities are studying safety protocols at the sewage plant. They are “trying to determine how Ellington got past the gate at the sewage treatment plant about 7:30 a.m.,” the Sun-Sentinel reported, citing Cohen.

Ellington previously told reporters that he thought he was fired for raising safety concerns about the sewage plant. Officials say he was let go because he skipped out on a disciplinary hearing. They also noted attendance issues.

"What was going through my mind is someone is going to look at me from this commission and from the city administration," Ellington said.

Ellington referenced the death of Herminio Padilla Jr., whose body was pulled from a sewage pipe at the East Central Regional Water Reclamation Facility last year. The Sun-Sentinel reported:

Ellington told city commissioners at a Feb. 1 meeting his grandfather had likely been killed as a result of the Tuskegee syphilis experiment on African-Americans, and he had also been harmed also by the government. He demanded Mayor Jeri Muoio's support, but she did not comment. "I will not relinquish this podium, madam mayor, until you answer my question," Ellington said as an officer approached. "Will you criminalize me or will you support me?" Ellington, who wore a black hood over his head, referenced the death of 48-year-old Herminio Padilla Jr., a sewage worker who fell into a tank and died at the plant in January 2015.

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