Des Moines Business Owner Won’t Face Charges Despite Family’s Outrage

By Tom Knighton

(AP Photo/Lisa Marie Pane)

Despite the outrage from the family of a man shot while committing a burglary, the owner won’t face any charges. It seems the police investigated and found that it was a clear-cut case of self-defense, apparently based on the state’s Stand Your Ground law.

A Des Moines business owner who fatally shot an intruder in an apparent “stand your ground” case will not face any criminal charges, police said.

The burglary-turned-deadly shooting happened just after 7:15 a.m. Wednesday at Kraft Imports and 5 Star Muffler at 1400 Army Post on the city’s south side.

Police said that the business owner, 67-year-old Thomas Kraft, of Des Moines, discovered the burglary when he arrived at the store and found a pickup truck loaded with his merchandise.

Kraft confronted the suspected burglar, 37-year-old Amund Haarstad, of Fergus Falls, Minnesota, who threatened to kill the business owner, detectives said.

Kraft told authorities that he feared for his life and fired a single round into the ground. The bullet ricocheted and struck Haarstad in the head, killing him.

According to Iowa law, people don’t have to retreat before using deadly force if they believe they’re in danger.

Kraft was taken to a nearby hospital for …Read the Rest

Source:: Bearing Arms