FERTILE, Minn. — A northwest Minnesota man has been charged with second-degree attempted murder for shooting an airplane flying over his property last week, according to court documents.
Chad Lynndell Olson, 51, was charged Thursday in district court in Polk County for allegedly shooting a Cessna small aircraft with a high-powered rifle from his property on Highway 32 northeast of the Fertile airfield on Oct. 6.
Olson has a history of making threats and shooting at planes flying over his home, according to a criminal complaint against him.
On Oct. 7, an area pilot told a Polk County Sheriff’s deputy that he heard an odd “twang” sound while flying his 1974 Cessna Skywagon the previous day in the area of Minnesota highways 32 and 102 near the Fertile airfield.
While washing his plane the next day, he found a bullet hole in the fuselage that had not been there when he did a preflight check of the plane the day before. The bullet entered near cables and pulls and could have caused structural failure if they were damaged, the pilot said. He estimated the damage to be $20,000.
On Oct. 9, an investigator spoke with a man who said he was at Olson’s property on Oct. 2 when he saw Olson shooting a .30-06 rifle as a plane flew overhead, according to the complaint. The witness later told investigators he had seen Olson shoot at planes on four occasions earlier this year and that Olson had told him about three other times he had shot at airplanes.
Olson said he was using lethal force to defend himself because the airplanes were “engaged in terrorism.”
Olson was arrested Thursday and made his first appearance Friday. He faces one count of second-degree attempted murder, one count of second-degree assault and two counts of criminal damage to property. The attempted murder charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and the assault charge has a maximum of seven years in prison.