I tried to find the four young men involved in this unfortunate caper, reported on page one of the Minneapolis Star. The lads — Stanley, Smith, LaHound and Nestegard — would now be in their late 60s. It appears they don’t want to be found, don’t want to explain what they might have been thinking that night. Who can blame them?

Police Catch Up With
Catsup ‘Killers’; 4 Fined

Four youths who staged a “murder” on the street with theatrical success were fined a total of $200 for their “crime” in Minneapolis police court today.

Fined for disorderly conduct were Charles W. Stanley, Jr., 18, 3720 E. 55th St.; Kenneth C. Smith, 19, 5637 S. 26th Av.; James J. LaHound, 18, 5137 S. 28th Av., and David Nestegard, 18, Wabasha, Minn.

Smith and Nestegard bounced out of a car at 14th St. and S. 3rd Av. last Friday night. They went through the motions of fighting, then Nestegard drew a pistol and fired twice at Smith.

Smith collapsed in a heap – and squished catsup on his shirt at the same time.

Stanley and LaHound then came out of the car and helped the “wounded” man into their car. Then the four drove off.

The act stunned Richard L. Beskin, 2416 S. Fremont Av., and Joyce Freas, 924 S. 21st Av.

They caught the license number of the car and reported the “shooting” to police.

When officers caught up to the car, they were told it was just a prank. Nestegard had fired blanks.

The police, using a good deal of manpower in pursuit of the car, didn’t think it was funny. Neither did Judge Dana Nicholson. He fined each of the gagsters $50.

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 19th, 2007 at 7:47 pm and is filed under Main, Mayhem. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.