Angry husband bulldozes his way to property settlement
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A judge ordered a divorcing couple to split their house, so soon-to-be-ex husband Darrell Carpenter did just that -- with a bulldozer!

Bitter after a four-year-long court battle, Carpenter had a few beers and drove the large machine through the two-story house in Kanawha County, W.Va.

The path of instant destruction left half of the house standing.

"Her half is still standing," Carpenter joked to The ENQUIRER. "She can have it if she wants."

A judge had ordered Carpenter and estranged wife Drema to sell their five-year-old house and split the profit.

"I offered to give her half of everything -- fair and square," Carpenter said. "But she wanted it all."

"I built that house on my own property with my own hands. She ain't got a single nickel or nail in the place. It wasn't fair!"

So the 61-year-old construction worker left the courthouse March 9 and decided to have a few beers.

"The more I drank, the madder I got," he said.

"So I decided to do what the judge ordered: Take my half and leave her hers."

Carpenter returned home, hopped on the bulldozer he kept in the yard and made a streak for the house as amazed neighbors watched!

"I am right-handed, so I took out the right side of the house," he joked.

Neighbor Larry Gibson said, "My first reaction was, I thought he was crazy. Then I thought, 'The house belongs to him -- he could do what he wanted with it.' "

Other neighbors didn't hold anything against Carpenter. "Darrell's a good man," one neighbor said. "But evidently, he had a bad day."

When police arrived to arrest him, he was still sitting in the bulldozer.

Carpenter -- who could face several charges -- has no regrets.

"I'd do it again if I could," he said.

"Drema was my third wife -- and she's definitely my last!"

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