- Allen H. Thacker, 62, has been sentenced to one month of house arrest, ordered to complete 100 hours of community service and pay $1,500 in restitution
- Thacker admitted to shooting and killing a bald eagle because it was a ‘menace’
- A witness claims Thacker ran over the bird with an ATV, which he denies
A Virginia man who admitted he shot a bald eagle and then ran it over several times with an all-terrain vehicle has been sentenced to a month of house arrest.
The Virginian-Pilot reports 62-year-old Allen H. Thacker also was ordered Monday to complete 100 hours of community service at an area wildlife refuge and pay $500 in fines along with $1,500 in restitution.
Thacker pleaded guilty to violating the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act in July. He told officers he killed the eagle in March because he’d seen the bird killing small game and eating fish on his property.
A Virginia man admitted to shooting and killing a bald eagle, saying the bird was a ‘menace’
Allen H. Thacker, 62, has been sentenced to a month of house arrest after he admitted to shooting a bald eagle in March
A woman was driving on Swamp Mill Road in Smithfield when she saw a man in a red ATV run over the bald eagle three or four times.
Thacker admitted to shooting the bird first with a .22-caliber rifle and then again with a handgun. He denied running over the bird.
He told officials he first fired a warning shot but the bird did not leave, so he decided to kill it.
According to court documents, he argued the bird was a ‘menace’ and said ‘too much emphasis’ was put on the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act.
Carol Senechal with the Eagle On Alliance is pleased with the sentencing
A necropsy performed on the eagle showed it was shot with a .22-caliber round, but that the bird actually died from blunt force trauma and a skull fracture.
‘The home confinement is like jail and I haven’t ever heard of anyone shooting an eagle going to jail so this is probably as close to that as we can get. So I’m pleased with that,’ said Carol Senechal the Eagle On Alliance, said to WAVY.com.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Kosky declined to comment on the plea agreement, as did Thacker and his attorney.