Posted: 1/18/05
Sentencing set for New Albin youth accused in cow shooting
A New Albin, Iowa, juvenile charged with shooting a cow and calf in rural Caledonia last summer is scheduled to be sentenced on January 19 at 1:30 p.m. in Caledonia.
Jarrett Richard Meyer, 17, pled guilty in the case on November 17 to one count of criminal damage to property in the first degree, a felony, and one county of cruelty to animals, a misdemeanor.
The incident took place on August 27, 2004, along Corral Drive in a pasture in section 34 of Jefferson Township.
According to the criminal complaint, Meyer and a friend were target shooting into a telephone pole near a herd of cows owned by Thomas Reburn. The shots startled the cattle, which started running. Meyer allegedly fired into them with a shotgun, killing a 1,300-pound Limousin cow valued at $1,200 and a 600-pound calf valued at $750.
Reburn found the dead and bloated animals three days later. Entry wounds appeared to come from a 12-gauge shotgun. Reburn told deputies that a big party had occurred nearby a few days earlier, and that they should talk to Meyer.
Meyer at first denied shooting the cows, but his mother, Gail Meyer, called the sheriffís department to say that her son had confessed to her. Deputies found several 12-gauge shotgun shell casings by a fire pit where the party took place.
Meyer had been under house arrest until recently, but is currently in the La Crosse County Jail. He and another New Albin youth, Tyler W. Fink, 17, were arrested in La Crosse on January 4 and charged with conspiracy to sell a sawed-off shotgun.
They are charged with being party to the crime of theft and attempted transfer of a stolen firearm, both felonies. Meyer is also accused of being a habitual criminal. La Crosse County Circuit Judge Ramona Gonzalez set a cash bond of $25,000 each for Fink and Meyer.
According to the criminal complaint, Meyer, Fink and a third teen were caught with the stolen weapon New Year's Eve. The teens were supposed to sell the gun to a buyer at Houska Park, but the meeting never took place, the complaint said. Police stopped the teens in the 1300 block of Jackson Street. The gun matched the description of a gun stolen from a car on December 14.
Caledonia Argus
314 West Lincoln St.
P.O. Box 227
Caledonia, MN 55921-0227
507/724-3475
E-Mail: editor.argus@ecm-inc.com