Jury finds wheelchair bound man guilty of assault with weapon

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

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 wheel chair 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 to discuss a right-of-way issue on July 23, 2008.

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.

Sentencing will be held in September.