In October of 2015, Steven William Timm, 55, was accused of using a pontoon boat to circle a large buck, keeping it away from the shore until it drowned.
In light of the accusations and numerous eyewitness accounts, Timm was charged with animal cruelty and chasing a wild animal in a motor vehicle, both misdemeanors, following the incident.
According to the court records, a number of witnesses noted that Timm had harassed the deer to the point of exhaustion with help from his pontoon boat. Witness David Kvidt told DNR investigator Angela Warrn that he had spotted the deer swimming in the lake a few hundred yards from shore when a man in a white pontoon boat headed toward the deer.
Kvidt stated that he watched as Timm positioned his vessel between the deer and the shore, forcing the deer into deeper water. Timm then proceeded to follow closely behind the deer with his boat at which point Kvidt jumped in his boat in an attempt to persuade Timm to stop.
By the time Kvidt reached Timm, the deer was floating belly up.
Despite this and other witness accounts of the events that transpired that Labor Day weekend on Tulaby Lake, Timm managed to strike a deal to have the charges dismissed.
Timm and the Mahnomen County attorney agreed to a continuance for dismissal.
Meaning prosecutors agreed to drop the charges so long as does not commit any similar offences within six months.
Really? That’s it?
Well, not really. Timm was still ordered to pay a $500 fine to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources for the loss of the deer after pleading not guilty to all charges.
Defense attorney Jade Rosenfeldt stated that Timm still “adamantly denies what he’s alleged to have done.”
Despite the accounts of a number of witnesses, Timm maintains that he was simply attempting to turn the deer back to shore.
While I generally give most folks the benefit of the doubt, I just don’t buy it this time, Steven.
Image: Minnesota Department of Natural Resources