Update: Armed suspect in Lyle will not serve jail time
Published 4:12 pm Friday, November 30, 2012
A member of the Mower County Sheriff's Department scans a corn field from 130th Street, Mower County near the Mower/Freeborn County line looking for Brian Jerome Jansen earlier this year. -- Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
After hiding in a cornfield with a shotgun and leading authorities on a three-hour manhunt this summer, a Lyle man will serve five years’ supervised probation.
Brian Jerome Jansen, 42, was sentenced to the probation term Friday in Mower County Court. Jansen was convicted of felony possession of a short-barrel shotgun — for which he received a stay of imposition — and gross misdemeanor fourth-degree assault of a peace officer after he pleaded guilty in September. Charges for felony second-degree assault and gross misdemeanor obstructing the legal process were dismissed.
Jansen
According to the court complaint, Jansen, 42, emerged from a cornfield near Lyle on July 11 with the barrel of his shotgun in his mouth. Jansen refused to drop the gun after multiple orders from officers; however, Mower County Deputy Jason Bresser moved close enough and found an opportunity to fire a Taser at Jansen from 15 feet, according to the complaint. Jansen reportedly fell back and fired a shot over his shoulder. He got back on his feet and pointed the shotgun at Bresser’s midsection, according to the complaint. Bresser believed Jansen would have killed him, so Bresser fired a round from his rifle, which caused Jansen to drop the shotgun. Jansen was not struck by a bullet in the altercation.
The fiasco began at about 2:30 p.m. on July 11 when Jansen called a neighbor for a ride because a tire on his bike was flat. According to the complaint, Jansen re-emerged from his home with a shotgun and was fumbling with the shells while trying to load them. The complaint adds Jansen threw shotgun shells at a woman in the house before he came outside. The neighbor mentioned Jansen appeared intoxicated and upset, so the neighbor drove away, but then heard two gunshots and called 911.
A deputy arrived minutes later and saw Jansen sitting on a Quonset hut with a gun, but Jansen walked into the cornfield when ordered to drop the gun. Jansen did not re-emerge for nearly three hours, after which he was arrested.
Correction: An earlier version of this story stated Jansen will serve one year in jail because of an error filed in Mower County Court and in the Minnesota Judicial System. Jansen will not serve jail time.
