Published Friday
May 27, 2005
Man charged with shooting at people floating down creek
BY PAUL HAMMEL
WORLD-HERALD BUREAU
LINCOLN - With tourism season poised to begin, the state filed charges Thursday against a Long Pine, Neb., man who allegedly fired shots at two groups of inner tube riders last summer.
Jack Roark, who was arrested Thursday, had posted no trespassing signs on his land along Long Pine Creek in north-central Nebraska,
The incidents have reportedly put a chill on tourism along Long Pine Creek, a popular place for inner tube floats and trout fishermen.
Jack Roark, 74, was arrested on four felony counts of making terroristic threats and two felony charges of using a firearm to commit a felony after turning himself in at the Brown County Courthouse on Thursday.
The charges have a potential sentence of up to 120 years in prison.
Roark, who owns land along Long Pine Creek in north-central Nebraska, is accused in connection with incidents last July 10 and 11, though some local residents say that he has caused problems for years.
"Something needed to be done, and the only way something was going to be done was what the attorney general did," said Jim Carley, who runs a cabin resort in Long Pine.
The Nebraska Attorney General's Office filed the charges Thursday after the Brown County Attorney's Office deferred the case last fall.
A phone message left at Roark's home Thursday was not immediately returned.
Attorney General Jon Bruning said Roark is lucky no one was injured or killed in the incidents.
"He's a menace to public safety, especially in Brown County," Bruning said.
One of the alleged victims, Alan Sladek of Omaha, told authorities that Roark fired at least six rifle shots at his inner tubing group on July 11, terrorizing the
group that included six children. The shots were fired in front and behind the group, Sladek said, trapping them on the creek.
On July 10, Laura Hall of Hastings said that she and four friends were confronted by Roark who blocked their path as they rode inner tubes down the creek and angrily forced them to retreat upstream.
According to a court document, one member of the group, Brandi Croghan asked Roark if he was the man who shot at people. Croghan said he replied, "Trust me little lady, if I was shooting at you, you'd be dead."
The next day, both Croghan and Hall said that Roark fired several shots, some within inches of them, as a group of seven friends tried to float down the creek.
Roark posted 10 percent of $10,000 bail on Thursday and was ordered to appear in court on Wednesday.
The criminal case filed Thursday involves a quarter-mile stretch of creek downstream from a cabin development called Hidden Paradise and upstream from state recreation and wildlife areas.
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"Trust me little lady, if I was shooting at you, you'd be dead."
Shows me that he didn't intend to kill the trespassers. You're right - this isn't an open and shut case, especially in front of a jury of his peers. I don't know the territory up there well enough to know if it is possible for the trespassers to walk around his land.
It is also unfortunate that Bruning chose to get involved. There has to be a reason that the local prosecutor didn't pursue this case. The real questions to me are this:
Does Mr. Roark have a legal right to close on-water access to Long Pine Creek as it runs across his property, and if so, does he have a right to enforce this - and does he have a right to expect that trespassers will be prosecuted.
Does he have a legal right to fire warning shots at trespassers, with the understanding that if his intention to fire warning shots results in someone being injured or killed, he would be liable?