Mayor, Company President Respond To Threat To 'Run Over' Looters

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, IL — CAT Express Inc., a transportation company headquartered in Arlington Heights, threatened to run over protestors with its trucks in a Facebook post on Sunday. "We will defend ourselves everytime, up to and including, using our 80,000lb trucks and it's 1,800 foot-pounds of torque to run you over," the post reads, among others things.

CAT Express Inc. is headquartered at 2035 S Arlington Heights Road.

In the social media post, CAT Express Inc. also states, "Cities where looting, rioting, and stopping trucks is happening.... You are hear-by put on notice. Threaten, delay, attempt to stop a truck, we... The American trucker will consider that act as an attack on our lives. We will defend ourselves, our equipment, and our load." It later reads, "You will move, or you will die."

Catalin Sorescu, president of CAT Express Inc., told Patch that the posting didn't originate from his company, but "it's all over the Internet." He added, "We didn't threaten anyone." The Facebook post from CAT Express Inc. had no attribution before it was deleted Tuesday.

According to the company's certificate of good standing records with the Illinois Secretary of State's office, Sorescu lives in Joliet.

The Arlington Heights Police Department told Patch it is aware of the social media post and its source. Police said the matter is being investigated.

"These are difficult times for all," Arlington Heights Mayor Thomas Hayes said in response to the post. "I condemn violence and criminal acts by any and all as a way of dealing with the problems and issues we are currently facing."

The full post, which has since been deleted from Facebook, included profanities. CAT Express Inc.'s Facebook page also appears to have been deleted. Below are screenshots of the original post with the profanities blurred out.

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