Reno man gets probation for shooting golfer who broke his window

[bullwinkle428]

RENO, Nev. (AP) -- A Reno man has been placed on probation and fined $1,000 for shooting a golfer whose errant ball broke a bedroom window at his home.

Jeff Fleming, 53, was put on probation for up to five years in Washoe County District Court. He had faced as much as 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine after he earlier pleaded guilty to a felony charge of battery with a deadly weapon.

The unidentified golfer who struck Fleming's house took a drop and was attempting to play his next shot on the Lakeridge Golf Course in September 2012 when Fleming fired a shotgun at him. The golfer, who was playing with a friend, was treated at a hospital for minor injuries to an arm and both legs.

Fleming's attorney, Larry Dunn, said Friday his client was just waking up when the stray golf ball shattered his bedroom window and sprayed him with glass shards. Fleming shot at the golfer from some 50 yards away in an attempt to scare him, not injure him, Dunn said.


Read more: http://www.golf.com/ap-news/reno-man-gets-probation-shooting-golfer-who-shattered-his-window#ixzz2neBfLESt

[NightWatcher]

1. I love people who move to a golf course community then bitch about the golfers

Hey Moron, you live on a golf course. You will now be subjected to golfers, golf balls, golf carts, golf pants, and the sound of grass maintenance equipment at all hours of the morning.

Congrats, it's what you wanted.

[Le Taz Hot]

2. Only a gun worshipper would wake up pissed and think,

"I'm going to shoot whatever just woke me up" and then do it. Normal people don't do that.

[Gormy Cuss]

5. +1 n/t

[Iggo]

7. Gotta love gunfucker logic.

[lonestarnot]

3. Golfers and gunners all in one story.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

4. Clearly 9 Irons need to be fucking banned

When will the terra end to innocent second amendment lovers????

[Lizzie Poppet]

6. I don't like playing on courses in housing developments.

I enjoy golf...but I'm pretty darn awful at it. Any window within a 180-degree radius of where I'm standing (I haven't quite managed to get the ball to land behind me...yet) is at risk.

Best think about this incident: Fleming plead guilty to a felony: no more guns for him. That's good, as he pretty conclusively demonstrated that he's not responsible enough to have them.

[dionysus]

9. i once saw a guy mishit a ball so badly it rolled a foot backwards off the tee. i still don't know

how he did it...

[Jesus Malverde]

10. curious with a hypothetical...

What would you do if you hit a golf ball through someones window?

Play on or contact the homeowner? Is their a protocol?

[Lizzie Poppet]

11. Contact the homeowner and pay up.

Every course like that I've seen has something on the scorecard (and/or posted in the clubhouse) about the golfer being responsible for any property damage from an errant shot. I'd leave a card at the door of the home with a brief explanation and a promise to pay for the window.

[muriel_volestrangler]

8. Wow - whatever happened to strong sentencing in the USA?

Obviously no-one can believe " an attempt to scare him, not injure him" - with a shotgun, you do that by firing in the air (it's not as if you can hear the pellets whizzing past you unless they're close enough to possibly hit you). Clearly he was aiming at him, and intended to injure him. But no jail time, and a pretty derisory fine. Looks like the judge thinks assault is no big deal.

[stevenleser]

12. "... but if I kill all the golfers, they'll lock me up and throw away the key"

[raccoon]

13. And suppose this trigger happy idiot Jeff Fleming had killed the golfer? Would it still be

a measly little five years' probation? I think he should have some jail time.

I'm sick of these punks like Fleming always getting away with it...They always get away with it...if they're white.

[Bandit]

14. You don't kill anyone fifty yards away from you with a shotgun.

According to Cheney and the Republicans it is only a good "peppering"......

[raccoon]

15. Maybe, but I'm sick and tired of these "responsible" gun owners shooting at anything that moves.

It seems from what you hear that you're more at risk of being shot by a "responsible" trigger-happy gun owner than
by drug dealers, gang members, muggers, etc.