DULUTH — A federal grand jury has indicted a northern St. Louis County man who allegedly shot a firefighting plane near his home in May.
Daniel Christian Pettit, 49, of Portage Township, was already accused of assault and firearm offenses in state court. But he is now back in custody and facing increased penalties on federal counts of damaging an aircraft and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence.
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Pettit, according to court documents,
claimed he was crow hunting when he fired at least one round
into the rudder of an Air Tractor plane as it was scooping water from Kjostad Lake to battle a nearby wildfire on the evening of May 15.
The pilot heard a “pop” noise at the time but initially believed it may have been a bird strike and did not discover the nature of the damage until landing at the Hibbing airport. Other residents of the sparsely populated area told investigators they heard gunshots from the direction of Pettit’s property, seemingly only when the planes were low over the lake.
A deputy suspected Pettit was responsible based on prior interactions, and court filings indicate he is known to identify as a "sovereign citizen.”
Pettit, who previously bonde...