Sheriff’s office accuses Shane Olson of shooting out semi tires

By ANDREW McGINN
a.mcginn@beeherald.com
CHURDAN — A former candidate for county supervisor and a veteran of two deployments to Iraq is accused of waging a one-man war on jake brakes near his rural home.

Shane Olson is expected to turn himself in today or Friday, according to Greene County Chief Deputy Jack Williams, on charges that he fired on a loud tractor-trailer with a rifle June 17 near Highway 4, blowing out several of the semi’s tires.

The driver was uninjured.

Olson will be charged with intimidation with a deadly weapon with intent to cause fear — a felony — in addition to assault with a deadly weapon, an aggravated misdemeanor, and criminal mischief, a serious misdemeanor.

Given Olson’s standing as a 2014 candidate for county supervisor and the community-minded owner of Olson Iron Works, Williams called the incident “surprising.”

But, he said, reports of harassment to semi drivers near Olson’s N Avenue home have been escalating in recent months.

A year ago, Olson unsuccessfully lobbied the Greene County board of supervisors to enact an engine noise ordinance in the county between the hours of 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.

It failed in August by a 3-2 vote.

The sheriff’s office has received reports of Olson allegedly chasing down tractor-trailers with his vehicle and slamming on his brakes in front of them, according to Williams.

“We haven’t been able to prove anything,” he said, “until now.”

The alleged shooting of tires “took it to a whole different level,” said Williams, who earlier this month won the Republican primary for county sheriff.

Shortly before 12:30 p.m. June 17, a truck driver reported hearing several shots as he approached the corner where Highway 4 curves to Churdan.

Olson lives nearby on N Avenue.

Several tires then went flat.

“He swears up and down he heard two or three shots from that location,” Sheriff Steve Haupert said of the driver, whose name hasn’t been released.

McAtee Tire in Jefferson later pulled a bullet from a tire, Haupert said.

The sheriff’s office isn’t yet positive what kind of rifle fired the bullet, but Williams said based on the grain and size, he believes it to be a .223.

The driver, Williams said, admitted to using his engine brakes — which emit a loud exhaust noise — as he approached the stop sign.

Haupert said it’s well-known that Olson was disappointed with the county’s failure to pass an engine brake ordinance, but he hoped reports of gunfire weren’t true.

The incident remains under investigation.

When contacted by The Jefferson Herald earlier this week about the rumors circulating, Olson insisted he was in Lohrville at the time.

“I wasn’t even here that day,” he said.

“I’ve worked hard to keep my name pretty good,” he added.

Olson recently donated his time and the materials to fabricate a new steel entrance sign for Lakeside Golf Course in commemoration of its 40th anniversary.

A 1992 graduate of Paton-Churdan High School, Olson enlisted in the Marine Corps at 16.

Later, as a firefighter with the Iowa Army National Guard, he deployed to Iraq in December 2003.

In a 2014 profile on his blacksmithing business and military service, Olson told the Herald that as firefighters and paramedics, it often fell to his unit to perform the grimmest of tasks in Iraq.

“You’d go out and pick up pieces,” he said. “That’s usually all there ever was.”

Olson deployed again in 2009, that time with the Iowa Air National Guard.

“It’s given me a better appreciation for the simple things in life,” he said of his time in Iraq. “Most (expletive) in Greene County isn’t worth getting worked up over. It makes me laugh to see somebody on Facebook ranting and raving about something like a flat tire.

“You guys have no idea.”