Maine couple’s petty squabble with neighbor over access road ends with their pretty home being SHREDDED by giant mechanical claw

A Maine couple’s seemingly trivial dispute with a neighbor ended in their lovely home being destroyed by a massive claw-like device.

Gary Belanger, 63, was accused of shredding Carla and Peter Beaupre’s home in Portage Lake on Saturday using a grapple skidder, a heavy-duty four-wheel machine with a hydraulic claw for picking up and moving logs.

‘Every time I see it, I cry,’ Peter told the Bangor Daily News. ‘I’m a grown-a** man, and I cry.’

The Beaupres claimed the spat started when the couple refused to allow Belanger to carry felled logs from an adjacent property through an access road located on their land.

The dispute eventually heated up to the point that Belanger was slapped with a restraining order.

Belanger was out on bail and facing misdemeanor charges from two other incidents involving the Beaupres  when he allegedly destroyed their property, which they found wrecked upon returning home.

The scorned neighbor allegedly used the heavy-duty machinery to damage the couple’s residence, as well as a shed and a truck.

Belanger was found standing on top of the skidder by police, who reported that he was ‘having hallucinations’ while ‘maliciously destroying’ the property, according to the Bangor Daily News.

Belanger was also accused of damaging a 500-gallon propane tank at the couple’s home.

That resulted in a leak that trapped the family’s two dogs inside the home for hours.

However, the dogs were not injured, according to WMTW.

He has been charged with aggravated criminal mischief, criminal trespass and violating conditions of release.

Belanger is being held in Aroostook County Jail on $10,000 bail. Prosecutors had recommended that to be set at $50,000, according to the outlet.

Peter added that ‘the system [was] not protecting the victims,’ as his wife Carla called for ‘justice.’

A witness to the destruction, Abraham Nelson, said that the ‘most unsettling part’ of Belanger’s alleged crime was ‘just the non-responsive nature that he had.’

‘He didn’t seem like he was angry or he wasn’t acting in a way that made it seem like his blood was hot,’ Nelson told the Bangor Daily News. ‘It was almost the opposite.’

Nelson called police when he saw what was happening as he returned from a canoe trip to nearby Allagash.

Belanger had previously threatened to run his skidder ‘through’ the Beaupres’ home, according to the couple.

That happened in mid-July, when they said Belanger had appeared at their home in the middle of the night with a flashlight.

Peter confronted him later that day, which eventually resulted in Belanger being arrested by the Maine State Police.

He was charged at the time with criminal threatening, disorderly conduct and violating conditions of release – roughly one month before his alleged destruction of the Beaupres’ home.

‘We told them what he said, and he did exactly what he said he was going to do,’ Carla said. ‘The system failed us.’

Carla added that she thought she was having a heart attack upon seeing her wrecked home.

Belanger’s wife, Lori Belanger, said that she was ‘truly sorry’ for her husband’s conduct, according to the Bangor Daily News.

She told the outlet that her husband ‘flipped’ due to ‘continual harassment and false claims,’ which included Peter allegedly sabotaging his equipment.

‘No one deserves to have their home destroyed, especially with the cost of living these days,’ Lori said. ‘I wouldn’t wish something like that on anyone.’

She continued: ‘That being said, it is also not right for a human being to continually be harassed by another person to the point of breakdown.’

Lori also claimed that her husband had received ‘some really bad medical news that he has to deal with.’

‘You put everything together and as a result, my husband snapped,’ she told the outlet.

The Beaupres have denied her claims. They will be staying with neighbors for now, as they make plans to rebuild the home, which is insured.

Meanwhile, Belanger is currently on 24/7 house arrest, and he must wear a GPS ankle monitor.

The Daily Mail has reached out to Emily Genzlinger, the public defender representing Belanger, for comment.