Jury finds man in wheelchair guilty of assault with weapon

GRANITE FALLS -- A Yellow Medicine County jury returned guilty verdicts Wednesday night against Allen Chancey Olson, 55, of Canby, for felony charges of terroristic threats, reckless disregard of risk, and second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon.

The verdicts followed a two-day trial in Granite Falls.

Olson is paraplegic as the result of a spinal cord injury and relies on a wheelchair to farm land in Florida Township outside of Canby.

The complaint against him charges that he was in his wheelchair when he drew a pistol and pointed it at a township supervisor who had come to his property July 23, 2008, to discuss a right-of-way issue.

During the discussion, the defendant had become agitated, according to the complaint, and told the supervisor to leave or he would be hurt. He kept the gun trained on the supervisor until he drove away, according to the complaint.

Olson is scheduled to be sentenced sometime in September.