Thief chooses to help man who chased him
He said he wants to do "whatever I can" to help the retired Isanti County farmer, who faces reduced charges of wielding a shotgun near the gasoline thief.
By Robert Franklin, Star Tribune
Last update: February 14, 2007 – 11:11 PM
Kenneth Englund, the retired Isanti County farmer who was charged with a felony after wielding a shotgun near a gasoline thief, has received support from an unlikely source: the thief.
Meanwhile, the felony assault charge against Englund was reduced Monday to two misdemeanors -- pointing a gun at another person and disorderly conduct.
"I don't think he should be held responsible for, you know, anything involving any of these issues," Christian Harris Smith said last week while pleading guilty to stealing gas and a car radiator at a farm near Englund's.
"I committed a crime and, you know, he did what he probably thought was right to ... resolve the situation," said Smith, 28, who was sentenced to 90 days in jail by Isanti County District Judge James Dehn.
According to a court transcript, Smith said that, in addition to paying restitution to the owner of the property, he would like to do "whatever I can" to benefit Englund, 74, a Bradford Township board member, road maintenance worker and retired farmer.
Englund, armed with a shotgun on Oct. 15, confronted Smith and a woman at the vacant farm as Smith was taking gasoline from a vehicle. Englund then chased them while calling the Sheriff's Office on a cell phone.
At one point, Englund asked, "Should I blow them?" That referred to tires on the vehicle driven by the woman, not to the people, according to the revised criminal complaint.
In the original complaint, it was written that Englund asked a sheriff's deputy via cell phone if he "should blow them away." There was a 3-year-old child in the car, along with Smith and the woman.
After the vehicles stopped and a deputy sheriff arrived, Englund's shotgun was found to be unloaded.
Englund will fight the reduced charges, said his attorney, Brian Toder of the Minneapolis law firm of Chestnut and Cambronne.
Englund brandished his shotgun but did not point it at anybody, Toder said. "Even if he did, that's reasonable force. He's with a guy who he thought was a drug-crazed meth-head."
Sheriff Mike Ammend said earlier that Englund's actions were "an invitation to a shootout" or an accident.
However, Englund has received an outpouring of support in his community -- which has seen an increase in property crimes -- and around the country.
Robert Franklin • 612-673-4543 •
rfranklin@startribune.com