A former letter carrier for the U.S. Postal Service admitted in court Tuesday that he was upset at his former supervisor for firing him and that he rammed the man with a truck near the supervisor's home in Albany two years ago.

But Tian Yu Lu, a 63-year-old San Francisco man, said he only wanted to ruin his supervisor's car and had no intention of physically harming him.

Testifying in his own defense in his premeditated attempted murder trial in Alameda County Superior Court, Lu said he was gunning his truck's engine and aiming at his former boss's car in the 900 block of Pierce Street shortly after 6 a.m. on May 1, 2010, when he suddenly spotted the man next to his car.

Lu said, "Instinctively I moved my foot to the brake to try to stop and turn the truck away" from the supervisor, but it was too late. Lu struck the supervisor, who ended up on the hood of Lu's truck.

Lu seemed confused when prosecutor Danny Lau asked him if he got out of his truck to see if his supervisor was OK, saying, "I don't understand" and explaining that he just wanted to leave the scene because he was scared.

A short time later, Albany police found Lu near Golden Gate Fields, across the freeway from Pierce Street, and arrested him.

The supervisor suffered a broken arm, as well as cuts and bruises, but was released from the hospital the same day as the incident.

Albany police said the supervisor had fired Lu for poor performance in October 2009, and that he was attacked as he was walking to his car to drive to work.

Police said Lu and the victim both worked at a post office branch in San Francisco, and that Lu had worked for the Postal Service for 15 years before he was fired.

Lu previously worked as a custodian for the San Francisco Unified School District.

Asked by his attorney, Eric Safire, if it was ever his intent to harm his supervisor, Lu said, "No, just harm the vehicle."

Under cross-examination by Lau, Lu said his thinking was, "He take
away my job, so I would take away his car."

Lu, who wears glasses and was dressed in a black suit, white shirt
and a red tie on Tuesday, said he wanted to "balance things out and save face."

He said, "I was in a depressed situation at the time" and hadn't told anyone except his wife that he had lost his job.

Asked by Lau if he felt anger when he struck his supervisor with
his truck, Lu said, "Not anger, I just wanted to do something."

When the prosecutor asked Lu if he had considered attacking his supervisor's car with a baseball bat or some object other than a truck, Lu said, "No, that would only cause small damage."

Lu said he had thought about attacking his supervisor's car for at least four months and had bought the used truck in March for the specific purpose of attacking his supervisor's car.

He said he wanted to "find a truck strong enough to hurt his (supervisor's) car"
and chose a truck rather than a car because "a truck is stable and cheap."

Lu said he also paid $700 to buy a bumper guard to protect the truck in a collision. He said he paid in cash rather than with a credit card so the purchase couldn't be traced.

Lu faces life in prison if he's convicted of premeditated attempted murder. He's also charged with assault with a deadly weapon.

-- Bay City News