Repo Gunfire Leads to 20 Coon Hounds Seized

Pleasant Lake, IND – August 29, 2024 – It was early in the morning when deputies got the call that a pair of repossession agents had been shot at repossessing a Mustang. Arriving at the rural suburban neighborhood, they found the borrower. Inside, they found the gun as well as the strong odor of dog feces. Now, twenty coon hounds sit in a shelter and the borrower ended up in the hospital.

It was at 5:26 am Tuesday morning when deputies responded to a 911 call from two employees of JDC Recovery LLC who reported that they had just taken gunfire during their repossession of a Ford Mustang from 62-year-old Gregory L. Thompson of West South Drive in Pleasant Lake.

Meeting a safe distance from the residence, Deputies took statements from the recovery agents who reported that they backed their tow truck into the driveway to repossess the car when Thompson came emerged from the house. “Hey!” he allegedly shouted while pointing a rifle toward the driver-side window according to court records.

Soon after, they received gunfire. According to the agents, Thompson was about a10 yards away when he fired a single shot. Deputies failed to find any bullet holes in either vehicle and neither agent was injured.

When deputies arrived at Thompson’s residence, they found him still in his front yard when and unarmed. He claimed that he was awake, and the lights were on when two agents repossessed his car.

Thompson confessed to firing one shot into the air from his AR-15 to scare them off, but insisted he did nothing wrong since he was on his own property and wanted them to leave, court records said. He added that he was “at the edge of his property when he fired at the truck, which was down the road a ways.”

Deputies took note that other houses “were in close proximity to Thompson’s residence.”

A K-9 officer came in to search the yard but never found the spent shell casing.

But before the officers could execute a search warrant for the residence, they were overcome with the “smell of dog feces that came from the front door.” Concerned, they called the Steuben County Health Department to come to the scene.

Once inside, they found Thompson’s rifle sitting upright up in a corner, just to the right of his front door. One round was chambered, and another 20 rounds remained in the magazine, court records said. They also noted that the gun’s safety was off.

Also found were twenty Treeing Walker Coon Hounds. Their condition was not mentioned and no known charges of animal abuse are known.

Thompson was placed into cuffs, but at his own request and for reasons unknown, he was transported to Cameron Memorial Community Hospital. He was admitted and released Wednesday afternoon. Police still believe he’s hospitalized somewhere.

Thompson has been charged with Level 5 felony intimidation with a deadly weapon and Level 6 felony criminal recklessness with a firearm. If convicted, he faces a maximum six-year prison sentence and a $10,000 fine.

The fate of his dogs remains undetermined.

The fate of his twenty Treeing Walker Coon Hounds remains undetermined and they are in the care of the Community Humane Shelter of Steuben County.

“My office has not received any information relating to charges involving the care of his dogs,” Steuben County Prosecutor Jeremy Musser said. “If we receive any such information, we would certainly review it.”

Source: Herald Republican