Man Accused Of Driving Truck Over Bald Eagles

Police in Alaska have accused a man of running a truck over several bald eagles, killing two birds.

A jogger in Dutch Harbor contacted authorities on June 7 to report witnessing a truck leaving the scene where several bald eagles had been hit, Alaska Dispatch News reports.

"Somebody called us and said there was someone who had ran over an eagle," Unalaska Police Chief Jamie Sunderland told KTUU. "They said there was blood, and it was flopping around, that someone should come put it down."

Police said they discovered the pair of dead birds, as well as two injured ones, when they arrived to investigate the call.

A witness account that recalled the vehicle involved was a Ford truck with a company logo on it led investigators to charge Dennis Thompson, 28, in the incident. The Union, Oregon, man was cited on a count of using a motorized vehicle to harass or molest game.

Thompson could face more serious additional charges if he is found guilty of running over the birds.

NBC News explains:

The charge is a misdemeanor, but it's also a federal crime to kill bald eagles, which were removed from the federal Endangered Species List in 2007 but remain protected under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act. There was no information early Friday that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service had yet been notified of the incident.

Thompson is scheduled to appear on June 30 in Unalaska District Court.

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