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Vigilante farmer, 74, in more trouble than thief

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Posted by Red Dog Farms on February 02, 2007 at 04:16:49 from (152.163.100.74):

From La Crosse Wi Tribune

Vigilante farmer, 74, in more trouble than thief

CAMBRIDGE, Minn. — A 74-year-old man who chased down a thief and held him at gunpoint until authorities arrived now faces a charge more serious than the thief himself.

Kenneth Englund, an Isanti County farmer and Township Board member for 37 years, is charged with second-degree assault, a felony. The thief, who the sheriff said admitted stealing about $5 in gasoline from Englund’s neighbor, was charged with misdemeanor theft.

Sheriff Mike Ammend said people can’t take the law into their own hands and that Englund’s actions were “an invitation to a shootout. There’s so many things that could have gone wrong here.”

On Oct. 15, Englund pointed a gun at Christian Harris Smith, 28, and a woman at the vacant farm next to Englund’s place. He then chased their vehicle at speeds of 70 mph, according to the criminal complaint. A 3-year-old child was in the vehicle.

During the chase, Englund used a cell phone to call the sheriff’s office and asked if he should “blow them away,” according to the complaint. His shotgun turned out to be unloaded.

Englund pleaded not guilty, was released without bail and is scheduled to return to court Feb. 22.

Smith was charged with another theft and was held in the county jail on a felony warrant from another state.

More than 350 people attended a fundraising dinner for Englund last month, and a petition has circulated supporting his case.

Still, Ammend said, there was danger, especially since a woman and child were in the vehicle: “What happens if there was a crash?”

Chief Deputy County Attorney Dan Conlin said no one is looking to put Englund in jail, calling that idea “silly.” He also said while the charge fits the facts of the case, it doesn’t need to be resolved as a felony.

People who use force to protect property haven’t always fared well in court.

In a 1983 case, a jury ruled that a Holloway man should pay $77,000 to a burglar he chased down and shot in the foot. The case was settled for half that or less; the burglar got probation.

In 1999, a Red Wing man received six months in jail after he booby-trapped his Wisconsin cabin and injured a burglar. According to media reports, the Iowa Supreme Court upheld $30,000 in damages against the owner of a booby-trapped abandoned farmhouse in 1978, and a California homeowner was convicted of assault with a deadly weapon when his spring gun shot a teenage burglar in 1974.

In Englund’s case, some of his neighbors who are concerned about rising crime have been his supporters.

Richard Hansen, chairman of the Bradford Township Board, said crime has risen so much that board meetings have drawn crowds of about 50 people, and a committee was formed to meet with the sheriff and county attorney. The township, about 45 miles north of Minneapolis, does not have a police force.

Barbara Ford, of Ham Lake, who owns the land where the theft took place, said she’s had attempted break-ins.

“I’ll do anything I can to support Mr. Englund,” she said.

Englund said criminals can escape by the time a deputy arrives from Cambridge, the county seat, about 14 miles away.

The sheriff said his department is understaffed — with 14 deputies to patrol 440 miles of roads.

“We want people’s help, we need their help (calling with information), but we don’t want people taking the law into their own hands,” he said.

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