Farmer To Be Tried For Shooting Intruder

A farmer who had been burglarized three times now faces his own trial after shooting at would-be burglars when they returned again.

A 15-year-old received a superficial wound to his leg in the Nov. 13 incident.

Ken Cooper pleaded innocent Friday to a felony charge of shooting at an occupied motor vehicle. He faces up to five years in prison and a $50,000 fine if convicted. No trial date has been set in 3rd District Court.

Cooper was frustrated when Canyon County sheriff’s deputies could not catch thieves who had burglarized his barn. So he placed locks on his barn, boarded up the back door and moved equipment in front of the doors to make entry more difficult. But that still did not stop the thieves from stealing beer from his bar and gas from his tank.

On Nov. 13, Cooper saw a pickup truck slowly enter his driveway with its lights off. He called 911 and then stepped outside with his rifle. He yelled a warning and then fired a shot at the pickup. A second shot was fired when one person ran back to the truck.

Both shots hit the passenger side of the pickup, and Cooper fired a third shot as the truck pulled away.

A 15-year-old Nampa boy and a 17-year-old from Caldwell were arrested several days later when the younger boy’s father brought them to the sheriff’s office, seeking answers about the bullet holes in his pickup.

That led to the charge against Cooper. But he said he was only protecting his property.

“I was scared to death when I walked out there. I didn’t know what to expect. I had no intention of doing bodily harm to anybody,” he said. “These kids are getting a slap on the wrist and I’m getting felony charges. When do I become the victim?”

Canyon County Prosecutor David Young said use of deadly force is authorized only when a person’s life is in jeopardy.

“You can legally protect your property to a point,” he said. “When there is no longer any reasonable appearance of danger, the right of self-defense ends.”