Judge Bruce Gross issued an order last week finding a Mountain Lake man guilty of four counts of second-degree assault -- a decision that arose from a Cottonwood County District Court trial in February.
Gary Curtis Weidner, 61, already had a history of using firearms in a threatening manner before he was charged with assault in October 2006, accused of shooting at a carful of teenaged girls.
On Oct. 20, 2006, the four girls had driven by a house in Mountain Lake which had a reputation of being scary. As they passed the house, they honked their horn, then turned around and drove back past the house again. The second time, they heard a clunking noise, and one of the girls, who was familiar with guns, thought she heard a gunshot.
The driver of the car sped up, lost control of the vehicle and rolled it. During the court trial, a deputy testified that when the car was rolled back, he observed a hole on the passenger side door, then found a distorted bullet lodged near the bottom of the door.
Evidence was brought up of the defendant pointing a high-powered weapon at a DNR officer in 1989. Another witness testified she had driven past the house in the early 1990s and a male pointed a gun at the car.
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Testimony from an employee of South Central Electric showed that in 1995, he was at the house to read the meter when he heard the racking of a pump shotgun and saw Weidner holding a gun pointed in the air. In response, a deputy was sent to the home and approached the residence on foot. The defendant came out of the house with a .25 caliber handgun.
There was also evidence that at least two groups of hunters had felt threatened by a man wearing camouflage and carrying a rifle in the late 1990s.
Weidner's wife testified that their surveillance system included cameras in the front and north area of their property, as well as motion sensors.
Weidner was charged with four counts of second-degree assault, and bond was set at $30,000. The court trial took place in February of this year.
The judge has ordered a pre-sentence investigation. Sentencing has not yet been scheduled. Weidner faces a maximum penalty of seven years imprisonment and/or a $14,000 fine for each count of assault.
