FLASHER, N.D. -- A Flasher man is facing criminal charges after he allegedly threatened, harassed and interfered with two men hunting coyotes on state land.
Richard James Breiner was charged in South Central District Court in Morton County this week with felony terrorizing and misdemeanor reckless endangerment, driving with a suspended license and interfering with a lawful hunt.
The felony charge could be punished by up to five years in prison if found guilty.
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Breiner has been ordered to appear before Judge Cynthia Feland on June 2.
Jeff Violett, a state game warden, stated in an affidavit that, on Jan. 30, he received a report of an incident that happened three days prior.
Two men said they were hunting coyotes on a parcel of state school land off of County Road 83 in Morton County, about 2.5 miles south of North Dakota Highway 21, when Breiner rode up to them in an all-terrain vehicle, demanding to know what they were doing.
Breiner allegedly was upset that the two men were hunting coyotes, and that they had parked their vehicle on the section line road.
Both men reported feeling harassed and intimidated by Breiner, who allegedly used his ATV to drive in circles around the men while shouting obscenities and whooping. At one point, Breiner allegedly drove so close to one of the hunters that the vehicle brushed against the hunter's jacket.
The hunt ruined, both hunters got into their truck and left, later filing a report. One of the hunters also used his cellphone to record part of Breiner's alleged harassment.
Violett wrote that he contacted Breiner, who lives near the area where the alleged harassment occurred.
"Yeah, I ran them off," Breiner said, according to the affidavit.
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Violett wrote that Breiner said he felt disrespected by the way the hunters asked him what he was doing there and he was concerned the hunters' truck would damage the soft ground of the road. He said he had had problems all winter with hunters driving on his property.
Breiner denied nearly hitting one of the hunters with an ATV, stating that he simply "cussed them out and used a lot of f-bombs," Violett wrote.
When Violett told Breiner that he could be criminally charged, "Breiner stated that if they want to fight he will fight them, saying he could also say he felt threatened because they had guns," according to the affidavit.
