A Nielsville, Minn., man admitted Thursday in court that he burglarized the house of a Grand Forks man who beat him about the head with a handgun and shot at him twice as he fled the scene.
Jared Christensen, 24, struck a deal with Grand Forks prosecutors who recommended a 10-year prison sentence with all but 30 months suspended during five years of supervised probation. He will get credit for the more than four months he's served in the Grand Forks County jail since his arrest in January.
State District Judge Sonja Clapp set his sentencing for July 17.
Prosecutor David Jones told Clapp police were alerted to the burglary by 911 calls from neighbors of Greg Kaml reporting gunshots fired about 3:40 a.m., Jan. 7 in a quiet residential area on 11th Avenue North.
Kaml told police he heard an intruder, grabbed his century-old Army revolver at his bedside and confronted the armed burglar.
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The two men scuffled.
Kaml told the Herald he hit the intruder several times on the head with the butt of his revolver. When the burglar fled, Kaml followed him out the door and fired two shots at him as he ran across nearby yards, missing him but hitting a tree with one .45 slug, Kaml told the Herald.
Police found Christensen about five blocks away, disoriented, with an air-powered pellet handgun and some marijuana in his pockets, and apparently in his system, bleeding from head wounds consistent with Kaml's account. He was charged with lesser charges of carrying a concealed weapon and drug possession along with the felony burglary charge.
Christensen also faces extradition across the Red River to face effects of the Grand Forks burglary: alleged violation of probations from drug, alcohol and burglary convictions in 2011 and 2012 in Polk County, Minnesota.
Nielsville is 32 miles south of East Grand Forks, near the Red River.
Call Lee at (701) 780-1237; (800) 477-6572, ext. 1237; or send email to slee@gfherald.com .
