Blimp My Ride

It wasn't the Hindenburg crash, but a man with a shotgun fired at an advertising blimp that flew in a field next to Team Chevrolet-Cadillac-Geo in Salisbury, NC.

The blimp was advertising Cloninger Ford-Toyota.

Charged with discharging a firearm within city limits: Team Chevrolet owner Thom Dillard.

The fine: $10. Estimated damage to the blimp: $10,000. Dillard indicated he'll pay for repairs.

His attorney describes him as laid back and controlled. “This was completely out of character for him,” she told The Salisbury Post.

In a statement, Dillard, 52, expressed regret, but also claimed the competitor's blimp “continued to fly at tree-top level, not beside but directly over our property.”

Cloninger Ford-Toyota owner Larry Cloninger told the Post, “We just all need to get past it. It was one bad moment.”