Lang
6/24/22
The Iowa City man who accidentally shot and wounded a Marine last October has been fined the maximum amount allowed under Iowa City city code.
70-year-old Philip Olson of Brookwood Drive was fined $855 on Thursday by Judge Karen Egerton after he pleaded guilty to a charge of discharging a pellet gun within city limits. Iowa City Police say Olson was shooting at squirrels in his backyard, using a .22 caliber air rifle loaded with a metal pellet, but instead hit 20-year-old Lance Corporal Gabe Heefner as he was driving by on Highway 6 East. Heefner crashed near the intersection with Sycamore Street. He suffered severe injuries and was taken to the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. Friends have told KCJJ that Heefner is continuing his recovery.
A loophole in Iowa law prevented Olson from being charged with reckless use of a firearm because a pellet gun is not technically considered a firearm.
Olson paid $450 in fines related to the incident levied by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources on charges of hunting without a license, hunting without a habitat fee, unlawfully taking or attempting to take squirrels, and firing over a highway.
The $855 fine levied by Egerton on Thursday is the maximum allowed under Iowa City city code.