Five Ely men charged with terrorizing campers on Basswood Lake on the night of Aug. 7 made their first appearance in State District Court in Lake County in Two Harbors on Monday but entered no pleas.
Four of the men -- Barney James Lakner, 37; Zachary Ross Barton, 19; Travis John Erzar, 20; and Jay Andrew Olson, 19 -- appeared with their own attorneys. The fifth, Casey James Fenske, 19, asked for and will receive a public defender.
The men will appear again before Judge Kenneth Sandvik on Nov. 5.
Lake County District Attorney Russ Conrow last month leveled 79 charges, many of them felonies, against the men for a shooting spree that threatened and scared many campers in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. A juvenile boy also has been cited.
According to the criminal complaint, the men brought cases of beer, a bottle of schnapps, mortar-like fireworks, a Russian-style semi-automatic assault rifle, a .45-caliber Glock semi-automatic handgun, a .22-caliber handgun and a .22 rifle into the wilderness for their evening boat ride. The men said they made the trip to have some fun, not to fish or camp.
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According to eyewitnesses and the criminal complaints:
Starting at sunset and for the next three hours, the men motored about the lake in two boats, including into Canada, and fired hundreds of rounds from their guns. They also fired several large fireworks shells at or near campsites. The men verbally harassed and threatened to kill and assault campers. No one was hurt.
According to the complaint, in videotaped statements made to law enforcement officers the morning after the shooting, four of the Ely men -- Barton, Fenske, Erzar and Olson -- admitted to taking part in the spree.
Lakner apparently has not made a statement to police. He has been charged with 13 felonies and 12 other crimes. Lakner was arrested wearing a knit cap with fake dreadlocks and with a .45-caliber handgun and several clips. Lakner has been cited for alcohol-related crimes and was charged with operating a snowmobile in the BWCAW.
Richard Holmstrom, Erzar's attorney, said Monday that his client took only a minor role in the incident.
"If anybody did anything wrong, Travis was the least involved of any of the people ... He was along for the ride,'' Holmstorm said outside the courtroom.
Gordon Pineo, attorney for Lakner, declined to comment on the case, other than to say he has not received the county attorney's information the case, called disclosure. That will happen at the Nov. 5 hearing, Pineo said.
It's likely the five suspects will be tried separately, lawyers close to the case said.
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Federal charges are pending in the case, and it's possible the men will faces firearms charges in Canada.
