Five men from western Iowa have plead guilty to charges stemming from a deer hunting outing last fall. According to court documents, 28-year old Kent Gries of Elk Horn along with 28-year old Daniel J. Grabill, 19-year old Dustin A. Hansen, 29-year old Aaron A. Holtz and 30-year old Bradley Wendt — all of Harlan — entered their pleas Friday morning in Cass County District Court.
Holtz and Wendt are former Harlan Police Officers, and Gries works for the Coon Rapids Police Department. All five men pleaded guilty to one count of pursuing a deer with a motor vehicle, and one count of trespassing. Both charges are simple misdemeanors. Each of the men was fined a total of 165-dollars plus court costs. In addition, each of the men must have no further criminal violations for at least six–months.
The charges against the five stem from hunting incidents that happened on or around November 24th in Cass County. Wendt was also charged in Adair County with failure to display his license plates. In addition, Hansen, Wendt and 28-year old Ross Burchett of Harlan face additional charges of shooting a rifle over water in Adair County. Burchett has also been charged with trespassing and pursuing in Cass County. His case will be heard in Cass County District Court on Thursday, April 12th.