A 35-year-old Grand Meadow man pleaded guilty to three gross misdemeanors related to him and others firing guns from his vehicle earlier this month.
Bradley Jay Suess entered the pleas Thursday in Mower County District Court, where he'd faced multiple charges after the March 9 incident.
Four charges were dismissed in exchange for his guilty plea to DWI, hunting under the influence of alcohol and using artificial lights to spot, locate or take wild animals. The charges that were dismissed included overwork/mistreat animals-cruelty; and dangerous weapons-drive by shooting toward motor vehicle or building, both felonies, as well as a second DWI and hunting under the influence.
Sentencing has been set for May 4.
According to Mower County Sheriff Terese Amazi, deputies were called about 10:30 p.m. March 9 to Pleasant Valley Township, where they eventually located a truck that was described as having someone shooting from it. Suess was arrested for driving while intoxicated.
ADVERTISEMENT
In the meantime, dispatchers received a call from a homeowner in Dexter who reported her cat had been shot and killed. The cat had been in the yard, near a building, when hit.
Deputies found a .30-30 and .22 caliber rifle in the back of the truck, several other guns, three empty shell casings, boxes of ammunition and several open beer cans inside the vehicle, the court complaint says.
Two 16-year-old males were also in the truck, according to the report, and one admitted to shooting the cat. Suess allegedly admitted that he and the others were driving around looking to shoot raccoons, calling the act "pure stupidity." The other teen was put in foster care, Amazi said.
Suess also failed a blood-alcohol test after registering a 0.14 percent blood-alcohol content, the complaint says.
