Booby trap covered traffic officer in manure as he was trying to catch people speeding

A traffic officer in Austria got more than he bargained for after a booby trap covered him from head-to-toe in manure as he was trying to catch people speeding, police said on Tuesday.

A bucket containing the slurry exploded three metres from the officer after he triggered a trip wire at a site often used for speed traps, police in the southern state of Carinthia said. The 58-year-old was not hurt and police said the device was likely designed by an irate motorist to humiliate officers rather than cause injury.



But they were nonetheless not amused. "What could have happened if the officer had been nearer the explosives, or if a child had set it off? It doesn't bear thinking about," spokesman Rainer Dionisio said. Police said that a detonator in a bucket of manure was connected to a fishing line, which triggered the trap when the traffic police officer visited the location near the Mölltal state highway.

The site is commonly used by police for laser-based speed monitoring. A garden spade and garden gloves were leaning against the bucket containing the bovine excrement. The force of the explosion destroyed the garden tool's wooden handle. Fortunately, the officer was sufficiently far from the explosive that he was not injured, but his uniform was covered with manure.