Man arrested for firing AK-47 at, wounding alleged poachers

SULLIVAN, Mo. -- A man used an AK-47 to shoot at a van containing three men he suspected of poaching on his property in southwest Franklin County, officials said.

Two of the men were injured Thursday night.

The resident, Bart Brendel, 48, was charged with armed criminal action and assault, according to the Franklin County Sheriff's Department.

Brendel lives about eight miles southwest of Sullivan.

Sheriff Gary Toelke said Brendel had called the department twice Thursday, first to report trespassers and possible poachers on his property. The second time he called, he said he had shot at the men in the van after they drove their vehicle straight at him.

Toelke said the man was charged because he fired even when the van was passed him.

"The threat is gone, and then the justification to use deadly force is gone, and that's all really up to the prosecutor to make," Toelke said.

He said agents from the Missouri Department of Conservation had responded to Brendel's first call.

Department spokesman Joel Porath said the agents were at the property when they heard reports on their radios about the shooting.

The extent of the men's injuries was unclear. They were taken to hospitals, and both were expected to recover.

Brendel was held Friday at the county jail in Union on $100,000 bail.