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GoogleGary Holst, 69, of Le Mars, was convicted of criminal mischief in the third degree and reckless use of a firearm with property damage.
The criminal mischief charge was originally a felony charge, but the prosecution lowered it to an aggravated misdemeanor during Thursday's trial before Judge Jeffrey Neary.
The charges stemmed from events in August 2008.
According to court records, at about 11 p.m. Aug. 9, 2008, Justin Eisma and Chance Grady went onto Holst's property on Fourth Avenue Southwest and rang his doorbell, then ran away.
As they drove by in a car, they encountered Holst in the street holding a shotgun. Holst admitted to firing the shotgun near the car, which was damaged, according court records.
Neighbors said they heard a shotgun firing and reported pellets at their house.
No one was injured in the incident.
Holst was arrested Aug. 9, and then arrested a second time later that week following an investigation and charged with intimidation with a dangerous weapon and assault while committing a felony.
Holst will be sentenced for criminal mischief in the third degree and reckless use of a firearm at 9:30 a.m. Nov. 12.
Both charges are aggravated misdemeanors, with a maximum sentence of two years in prison and up to a $5,000 fine each.
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I wonder if the two individuals were charged with anything. I doubt that Mr. Holst would have come running out of his private domain, gun in hand if these two were not acting like 2 year olds. He is 69 years old and gets to go to jail for 2 years because he was protecting his property, while the 2 immature punks get away for playing a childish game.
I bet the parents are real proud. I mean 2 young adults??? harassing an elderly man. Real proud indeed...
Usually I agree with most everything you say here FADES...but not in this case....responding with a fire arm for ringing a door bell is an extreme and way out of line. What if one of those kids would have been killed for ringing a doorbell?...also he hasn't been sentenced yet, so you can't say that he's going away for two years to be sure. I do agree that the parents in this matter should be ashamed of their childs actions, and would hope they've addressed the lack of respect they have shown to Mr. Holst in this matter.
almost every kid rings a door bell in their life time, the game is called ding dong ditch. so if this means being ashamed of your kid then damn every parent needs to be ashamed. the only difference between what these two kids did an others is they dont get caught but that does not mean they dont do it. being ashamed of these two is a little bit extream wouldnt you say. what we should be ashamed of is a man who thinks it is okay to shoot at a kid for ringing there door bell. Im sure this is not the last time it will happen.
Well Harley this isn't Tombstone circa 1800's. No one in 2009 is a vigilante or should be. No one is Wyatt Earp and these boys aren't the Clanton's. Ding dong ditchin goes on here and most everywhere but it doesn't require the use of guns.
I wonder Harley what if these 2 kids had been killed by stray bb's. Yep that would have been punishment enough for both them and the parents. Shure show them HUH?
The "kids" drove by and the car was hit with pellets. Kids don't drive. You have to be a young adult at least to drive. Young adults should be past playing ding dong ditch. It becomes harrasment and while the reaction was extreme, I have a little sympathy for his plight and like the old saying goes, if you want to play with fire, you have to expect to get burnt.
My message to these kids........GROW UP
Can you imagine what those 2 young men thought! LMAO
HaHa...I'm sure an underwear change was in order!
I'll bet they haven't "Rang and Ran" since then! Mr. Holst cured them of that!
No harm no foul...everyone learned a lesson...
Make Holst pay for damages and give him a suspended sentence.
Yes these kids need to grow up and be a lot more mature. Responding with a gun.... must be a common problem he has encountered. Think there is more to this story. 70 years old should also know better. The 'kids' or immature adult wannabes, should also pay a hefty harrassment fine and jail time for the prank if the 70 year old has to face any jail time. provocation of response is accessory, correct?
Mr. Holst must had been shaken or rattled when his door was pounded on or the bell rang. I also have to guess this act of harassment was done very late at night. Either way, he apparently felt threaten by something to reach for a shotgun. Also it seems clear he was not aiming the gun when the shot was fired, perhaps an accident due to being shaken up. I think he was scared and confused. It appears he was protecting his property and himself. However I think there is more to the story. I really doubt that Mr. Holst was just relaxing in his favorite chair watching TV or napping when just then the door bell rang, which at that time he jump out of his chair, grabbed his favorite 12 gauge, burst thru the front door, jumped off his front porch, rolling a couple times on his front lawn, pulls back the pump to chamber a round yelling Yippee Ki-yeah. Does this justify his actions, I say no. Does he have the right to protect himself and his property, yes. Should he gone outside with his shotgun, no. Should the 2 teenagers be charged for causing all this, yes.
I believe if Mr. Holst receives punishment for his actions, then it is only fair the 2 that caused this in the first place be punished as well.
And where were the parents of these "kids" when they were out at 11pm harassing people that probably were in bed?
The kids action does not give the man the right to fire a gun at them or anyone. Has this man forgot when he was young, he mostly likely did some stuff that wasn't right either, still no right to fire that gun. Needs to except his sentence and thank god he didn't hit one of them.
Ding dong ditch involves running away. These "kids" came back and were obviously out to harrass the poor guy. Most 70 yr olds I know are sleeping at 11 pm.
Why do 14 to 18 year old kids do what they do today? Why do they ding dong ditch, why do they go to beer parties, why do they test drugs or smoke cigs, get MIP's, get pregnant? Is it the parents? Is it peer pressure? Is it a lack of self worth and need to prove to be cool and fit in? WHY? Parents including myself ask this question daily. WHY? If I could answer this question, I would write a book. I have and know alot of parents that ask this same question weekly if not daily. I guess in response to one comment here about the parents and that's any parent. All those kids that have gotten into trouble be it beer drinking, drugs, dinging, speeding, pregnancy, whatever should just put ankle bracelets on the kids, tail them, or just lock them in their rooms till 21. Do you know where your kids are when they leave the house and know what they are doing tonight? When I was growing up many many years ago, I didn't have a cell phone, the internet, xbox, peer pressure, and the lack of being able to "Just Say No". Was what they did wrong. Yes. On any given night when your kids leave the house to be with friends or whomever unless you tail them or hold their hand that night as a parent you hope and pray 2 things. 1 They come home safely and 2. They are able to stay out of any kind of trouble mentioned above. That's a good night for the parents and youg adults.
Yes economics, thats right. But responsibility for actions and holding them accountable for their actions is also very important. This escalated beyond the typical problem and should be reveiewed to prevent them from doing such stupid things in the future. Many times, the problems encountered can be worn off in time, this has the mark of needing to be curtailed NOW, this time before they try to get away with even more.
I wouln't blame it on the parents unless there is a history of problems And that the parents could do/could have done something about it.
So no charges against Justin Eisma and Chance Grady for the obvious harrassment? That's a travesty. These guys will learn nothing and probably just be worse in the future since they get away with it now. Some community service (at the very least) would do these guys some good.
Looks like there's probably a lot more to this than the story tells... I'm sure this will be worked out to prevent future recurrances. I thought this was a one time deal, so with that info, I withdraw my viewpoint since I'm not fully informed.
Please! What's wrong with most of you people? We were all kids once and we all played treats and did pranks on our neighbors. You can call Justin Eisma and Chance Grady young adults, but the fact is, they are still kids. What you need to ask yourself is, where was the responsible adult here. Did Mr.Holst ever file a complaint with the police dept? Did he spend a few bucks and set up a video camera outside his home to catch these children in action? Did he once try to just ignore the kids? (that wouldn't have costed him a dime!) I have had kids ring my door bell--I ignored them and they stoppped. If kids get a rise from the house owner and if the owner comes out yelling, screaming, chasing the kids, calling them names, etc., it only becomes more of a game for the kids. Which in Mr Holst case, it sounds like thats exactly what it was for the great number of kids that had rang his doorbell in the past. Yes people, many of kids rang that mans doorbell. Maybe even one of yours!! But the bottome line is, no matter how many kids rang that mans doorbell--that still gave him NO REASON to pull out a gun and shoot. Mr Holst aught to thank the lord above that he never killed any of those boys. You or him think two yrs is long, how bout the rest of his life, had he murdered one or both of those boys. In my opinion, Mr Holst is a danger to society and should pay dearly for his actions. He deserves the full two yrs.
Mother first, RN second
There's nothing wrong with most of you people. In my early years we did not scare and harass the old people. Apparently you did, because your OK with it. Your immaturity is shining thru based upon you posted comment. I doubt a mature teenager would consider harassing the Senior Citizens of Le Mars. I find that 95% of the people on this site have a sense of compassion and fair play. I also know that some, not all, but some Registered Nurses are pretty cruel to the elderly in hospitals and nursing homes, not you of course but some, do you agree? You have a great day :)
It's obvious this man opened the door with gun in hand in order to shoot a car that was driving away or he would have never had enough time to hit it. I'm glad a Boy Scout didn't ring his doorbell to sell wreaths or a Girl Scout to sell cookies.
Let us ponder on this.... If the two young men, were indeed as it sounds, harassing the older man repeatedly (and that just means more then ONCE)...they obviously caused him great distress and upset in one form or another for him to react in such a way. Now, what if these two young men had startled this older man to such a degree of upset that this elderly man had a heart attack? Or stroke? And he died because of his upset at their harassment? Would they be charged THEN? Finally? Only after they killed a man because of their pranks? I grew up in this town, and most of the kids I went to school with had the common sense enough NOT to harass the elderly. My parents taught me respect for my elders, and they also told me that if I was caught trespassing on others property I better be prepared to get my 'a-- shot at!' Apparently, parents are no longer teaching respect for elders to their children even in this town. They are raising irresponsible brats and making excuses for them. Mr. Holst has the 'right to bear arms' and shouldn't be punished for chasing them off his property. This IS a day and age where young people are so lacking in common sense and respect that there have been numerous reports of them abusing elderly people, even beating them for pranks...Its on the news daily and so if this man was harassed more then once, perhaps he was afraid they'd do the same to him! These boys need the fines, they need the community service and they need to grow up and learn other ways to amuse themselves. Be contributors to society instead of what they are...
How did this subject get to the point of picking on an RN as maybe mistreating the elderly to 2000 class judging these youngsters as treating this person mean and leaving the feeling that all young people are this way. There is NO excuse for what this man did or tried to do. He should have notified police and let the kids ring his doorbell, that what the law is for. The right to for us to have guns is not the right to shoot anyone on sight.
The right to bear arms as the second amendment was written has many interpretations in 2009. But when the founding fathers of our country wrote this amendment it was for milita purposes and for protection of property against the ensuing foreign countries.
In all countries that derive their laws from English common law, with the exception of the United States, parliaments have developed statutory law to restrict the right to have arms for self defense.[citation needed] In the United States many rights, including the right to keep and bear arms, are codified in the U.S. Constitution.
This is why so many people in the US today are against the owning and buying of guns. Many large cities now require permits to own any gun. Once we use the protection of the second amendment as a justification we take out and remove the need for law enforcement to do their jobs.
On November 12 at 9:30am Mr. Holst will recieve his sentence. I hope between now and then that Justin Eisma and Chance Grady do a little soul searching, this is my last word on this matter.
@hawkfan - Boy scouts have the common sense not to ring an elderly mans home at 11pm.
@Mother first, RN second - you are severely mistaken if you think harrassing an old person in the middle of the night is something most high schoolers do.
I think their is a LOT more to this story, than the Sentinel is reporting.
The two "boys" (Loosely used term), should have gotten in trouble for criminal mischief, at least!
But this is more of LeMars, "Lets prosecute one person to the hilt"!
What a crock!