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Read comments (30)Gary Holst, 68, was taken to jail and his shotgun was taken as evidence after two people complained to the Le Mars Police about gunshots at 10:53 p.m. Saturday.
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Holst felt he was being harassed and that the car in question was involved, according to the police department.
One of the individuals calling in a complaint stated that he felt pellets from a shell striking around him, according to the police report. The other complained about marks on his car from the pellets.
The police arrested Holst at 11:15 p.m. at his residence, 1440 4th Ave. S.W. The pellets had been reported just around the corner on the 400 block of 15th Street Southwest, according to the police.
Holst was jailed on a charge of reckless use of a firearm causing damage.
He posted $2,000 bond and was released.
I resided near Mr. Holst, and he is definetly one that nobody would brag about being a neighbor to. I was part of the group of boys whom were told to sit down on his lawn so he could take a picture of us for throwing a football into his lawn, and if I remember correctly he said if we didn't stay there he was going to get his gun. However, from my understanding there have been several incidences around the neighborhood of people ringing the doorbells at night, my residence included, and has been very annoying. I think his need to shoot at the car was 100% irresponsible and unexcusable, however maybe this will stop the "doorbell ringing" in the middle of the night.
It doesn't matter if the victim may be holding something back, but from what I know, he isn't, he is innocent. The fact of this whole matter is that Holst is a looney nut that needs to be locked away and out of my neighborhood as well as the community! Simple as that.
So what do all you people have to say now that Holst has been charged with with more offenses, kinda makes you sound like a fool now doesn't it. Just remember the police are doing there jobs, and the county attorney is doing his job. While certainly Mr. Holst did over react, makes you wonder why he did what he did, there is more to the story than what the vicitim is not saying.
Oh my goodness. Since this story appeared I have talked to several people in that neighborhood, all with similar stories about this man. One commented that they heard the gun shots and thought nothing of it because he shoots the gun all the time. WHAT? You neighbors need to talk with professionals at PAMH and discover how you can file papers to have this man checked out by mental health professionals. He is verbally threatening others; he is a danger to others. What is his wife thinking, does she think this is normal - or is she afraid of him as well? Did the police actually release him back to his home knowing he had made the comment to his wife about getting another gun loaded? Something wrong with that picture right there in itself! I understand there may be more to this story then the initial article..but besides the outcome of this one incident...this man needs some help...someone WILL get hurt! Step up neighbors!
I have known Holst for 30 years, he is Scary and Troubled. He has a gun for every day of the year with some to spare.. Be glad no-one is dead / This Time
It's almost sickening that the people in this town with more money get away with A LOT while the younger people along with those who don't have as much as some people in this town do, suffer. It doesn't take a genious living in this town to figure that out. Great system we got here!
24/7
i kno a lot more about how this town works than you think. and everyone knows that in this town the people with money get away with things and young adults are often pursued instead. its just easier for the police. i had been a victim in the past and i would just like to voice my opinion. perhaps if others would provide criticism this problem would find its solution faster.
And are you going to be a part of the solution to your problem (address the issue with those responsible) or just yell "foul" and continue to beat the victim drum. It sounds like you have given up on trying to make the situation better.
Calling people names and talking trash about it does not make the problem go away, a lot of people that use this forum do it simply to bad mouth others with out anyone knowing who they are (I include myself in that) Is this really helping anything? Maybe we should all stop typing nasty notes to each other, pick up the phone and clear the air with the actual people we have the problem with, we all might learn something.
The police pick and choose their battles in this town. Mostly all of them deal with teens or young adults, for once they should be worried about a crazy loony man who is shooting bullets at teens who weren't even doing anything! I've been a resident in this town for many years and dealt with the police personally, they are unbelievable and I don't feel safe with any of them as protectors to this community!
former_resident
It is pretty obvious from this post and several others in the past that you have a huge problem with the cops, (maybe you were traumatized as a child), being a "former" resident puts you in a perfect position to sideline quarterback and not have to dirty yourself in the game. If things are so bad here, why not move back and try to be a part of a solution to the problems that you perceive, instead of just making accusations about things that you really don't know about.
By the way, how is putting the guy in jail "police corruption"?
this is just a another example of police corruption in lemars.
in responds to 24/7... things like drive by shootings or guns getting fired at people for ringing a door bell (supposably) dont happen in real life lemars iowa just on tv right?> or wait it just happend saturday night! .. no one needs to know both sides of the "story" evidence proves the facts.
This is not the first time this gentlemen has pulled a gun on kids.
A few years a go, there was an incident where he pulled a gun on neighborhood boys playing football and the ball landed in his yard.
Someone needs to do something before we have a tragic ending and someone is shot and injured or even worse killed.
My 4 kids, how is it you have access to a police report that isn't even filed yet? The only information is a short article in paper.
Things like this don't get taken care of in 60 minutes like they do on TV. Real life is a little more complicated. There are many cases like this were more charges are filed after the investigation is done. I'm sure if the shoe were on the other foot, you would want an investigation done and get all the information before getting sent off to prison or Cherokee.
Don't get me wrong about the guy, what he did is horrible and he needs to be held accountable. I just don't see how bad mouthing the cops is going to help. The legal system is what it is, the guy has a right to bond out, and by the way, according to Iowa law (Iowa.gov) he was charged with an aggravated misdemeanor not a simple misdemeanor
Think First
Holst shot at a car with a person in it. The pellets hit people around the area and another vacant car. He made a threat in front of police as he was being arrested. Holst ran off his porch and chased the car he was shooting at. Holst had made threats to the neighborhood kids in the past(granted that was not part of the incident from Sat. night.)Holst is inside city limits 2 blocks away from a school campus. Reckless use of a firearm. What do we have to "wait and see"? An immediate charge even to a mob mentality would have to include firing within city limits. Even if Holst's intent was to scare Chance or give him a warning doesn't make it any more right. I shot someone but I didn't intend to so that makes it o.k.?
It took the police 27 minutes from the time the shots were reported to the time of arrest. I'd say there was a definite rush of judgement. That's not even enough time to ask several witnesses questions. These are not knee jerk reactions or a mob mentality, it's facts.
Maybe its just time to look at yer constitution and the right to bear arms. Might have been OK in 1776 but times have changed!!!
Maybe its just time to look at yer constitution and the right to bear arms. Might have been OK in 1776 but times have changed!!!
A teenage boy allegedly rings a mans door bell (there is no evidence to suppport this). The man then takes it upon himself to take matters into his own hands by using a weapon to shoot a this young man for his alleged acts. There is plenty of evidence to support this by looking at the car. The shooting of the gun is not contested by the man, but more negative behavior is reinforced by the man as he asks for his wife to get another gun ready for him to use towards this now frightened young man.
Obviously this man is not capable of displaying the proper morals and ethics of a sane human being. By him shooting this gun inside the city limits, near a public school, and at another human being suggests to me that this man thinks he is above the law.
Morals and ethics... I would think the the LeMars Police Department would be one to display these within the civil service duty that they are hired to perform. A simple misdemeaner for this act suggests to me that they should revist the lawbooks to fully understand how far this man crossed the line.
As concerned as I am about this mans lack of ethics and morals, I question if he had any children that he raised to believe this irate behavior as acceptable. If this is the case, LeMars will continue to have these concerns for years to come.
Do the right this Lemars Police Department... complete the investigation in full, make the necessary charges and arrests, and place this insane individual where he belongs...off the streets, awways from society, and behind bars with other criminals.
I feel compelled to point out a couple things.
It's entirely possible that Holst may face more criminal charges in this matter. Just because he hasn't been charged with more crimes yet doesn't mean he can't be or won't be.
Most likely the county attorney's office will review the case in it's entirety once the interviews are done and the investigation is completed.
The LMPD doesn't have to rush to judgement and throw the book at someone just to satisfy a mob mentality. The investigating officers have more insight into what actually happened than you or I and they are privy to facts that may not have been discussed in the news article.
I don't know Holst or Chance and it certainly appears that Holst grossly over reacted and I make no excuses for him.
Furthermore even if Holst had been immediately jailed on felony charges I'm confident he would have posted his bond just as quickly and been out just as fast.
What Chance did or didn't do in no way excuses Holst but how do we know Chance wasn't involved in the harassment of Holst? Just because Chance says he wasn't????
If the county attorneys office and/or the police decide that further criminal charges are warranted then I support them. However, I'm not going to condemn the police for not acting as fast as I would like before all of the facts have been reviewed.
Common sense dictates that we wait and see how this all plays out before we subject everyone to knee jerk reactions.
This is an crazy, it shouldent matter if u are shooting at a cop, or the president, he should have the same punishment, and this is the third time he has threatend someone with a gun? So are we telling people its ok to shoot at someone we dont like with a shotgun if we see fit? Im just grad it wuznt one of my kids but when u read this story and know the family it feels like it is...He should never own a firearm of any kind ever again...
A person commits terrorism when
the person, with the intent to injure or provoke fear or anger in another, shoots . . . a dangerous weapon . . . within an assembly of people, and thereby places the . . . people in reasonable apprehension of serious injury . . . .
Iowa Code � 708.6; see also State v. Bush, 518 N.W.2d 778, 780 (Iowa 1994).
Under Iowa Code section 708.6,
A person commits a class "D" felony when the person shoots,
throws, launches, or discharges a dangerous weapon at, into,
or in a building, vehicle, airplane, railroad engine, railroad car,
or boat, occupied by another person, or within an assembly of
people, and thereby places the occupants or people in
reasonable apprehension of serious injury or threatens to
commit such an act under circumstances raising a reasonable
expectation that the threat will be carried out.
He should be sent away, he doesn't belong in society...
He wasn't trying to hit the kid just the car huh?? Then ask the police what he said when they took him away! He asked his wife if they took his gun and she said yes and his reply was then get me another one um hello people and he was back home in a half hour and charged with a slap on the wrist and is out to hunt kids again I tell you what if he ends up "not missing" the next time he will not be the only one with blood on his hands look at his past history these are our kids we need to protect not have a maniac chasing them with guns. What if my 2 year old who does not know better than to step on his lawn does is he gonna shoot at her to!!!An incident like this can change a life forever think of the 17 year old and what he thought at that moment not even having been the one to do anything think if he did not live to tell what he went thru think if it was your child this happened to what would you think the punishment should be???
This is absolutely insane and I don't even know where to begin?!?
Shooting at the CAR? What makes you sure about that? Cuz Holst says so? I'd say he was shooting at the person in the car (and thank God he missed).
Where is the charge about firing a weapon in city limits? Isn't that against the law? How far away do you have to be from a school campus as well if you're shooting at CARS? I think there is another law about that.
This display of our LMPD is a complete joke and the entire community should be in an uproar about this. These charges are ridiculous I don't care how much money you have in your pocket!!! A grown man shot at a kid because his doorbell was ringing?? How about a committal to Cherokee?
To beat a dead horse-the police report on this story is pathetic. There is a 17 yr old young man that now is having night terrors about this incident and if you want the real story then talk to Chance and his family.
This is just wrong.
One person hit with the pellets, a car pelleted by lead, a boy shot at and the cops arrest him on a charge that doesn't fit the crime. We have kids let pigs loose in school and got a worse punishment. HMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!! Something isn't right in this town. It takes me longer to get ready for work in the morning than I'll bet it took for Gary to get out of jail.
This story does not sound as dangerous as the night really was. A guy shot a kid for his false accusation. Guns are not used to kill people. I mean for goodness sake, the guy lives in a neighborhood FULL of kids. If I lived near that man, I would be very afraid. This is not the first time he has threatened someone with a gun. Even if a ball would roll on his lawn, he would threaten the kids that he would kill them if they step foot on his lawn again. There is something wrong with this man. Even if Chance was ringing his doorbell, which he wasn't, that does not give Gary the right to shoot him. There are other actions you could take towards the matter. If you ask me, I think Gary was trying to kill chance. He should be accused of attempted murder. The shot hit his side mirror. That is way to close just to "scare" someone! Gary needs to be stopped!!! YOU DON'T SHOOT PEOPLE!!!!
Thank god no one got injured and I agree with the other people... He needs criminal charges not reckless use of a fire arm.
This story doesn't sound as dangerous as the night really was. A guy shot at a car with a kid in it. Even if the boy had been ringing the door bell, which he wasn't, that does not give Gary a right to shoot a gun at someone. There is other ways of dealing with this matter. Gary could have killed my friend because of his false accusation. Gary needs to be put in jail for attempted murder. YOU DON'T SHOOT PEOPLE!!!!
This story was way downsized he used a shot gun a busted up a kids car who was not even involved in the doorbell dinging not that it would condone shooting at someone he could have killed him!! How in the world is his punishment a misdemeanor he is dangerous and this is not the 1st time he has apparently chased kids with a shot gun this is completely unacceptable and down played. We need to as a community stand up against this behavior and he needs a reasonable punishment like attempted murder!What will it take him actually not missing and killing a child come on!!
This should not be happening in LeMars, Iowa. Reckless use of firearm ??? Come on people, this is way more serious than that!!!! This should require jail time, not some simple misdemeanor charge.
I wonder what he does at Halloween?
Have to take that address off the kids trick or treat list..........