The trials of two men charged in the theft of an ATV will now follow the hearing set for a farmer accused of shooting one of them.
Harold Groening, 30, of Mirror, will be tried on Dec. 8 in Stettler provincial court. Kyle Rosenthal, 23, of Alix, will be tried on Dec. 21 in Stettler.
Both were to have earlier court dates but the trials were set back.
Both are accused of stealing an ATV on March 26 from a rural residence near Tees.
Groening is charged with theft of a truck valued at more than $5,000, theft of an ATV valued at less than $5,000 and possession of a stolen ATV. Rosenthal is charged with theft of less than $5,000.
Brian Knight, 38, whose ATV was allegedly stolen, is back in court on Nov. 3 for a preliminary hearing that is set to determine if there’s enough evidence to warrant him being tried in Red Deer Court of Queen’s Bench.
The Crown laid the most serious charges against Knight.
Knight is charged with criminal negligence causing bodily harm, pointing a firearm, dangerous driving and having an unregistered firearm.
His predicament gained national attention when people from across the country donated several thousand dollars to his defence fund.
Police said that a man was shot with a shotgun after a farmer chased him following the theft of an ATV from the farmer’s yard.
RCMP said the farmer pursued the alleged culprits in a vehicle and bumped them from behind, resulting in both vehicles ending up in a ditch.
The suspects then fled but the farmer is alleged to have fired a shotgun at one of them, hitting him in the rear end and lower back.
The suspect was then placed in a vehicle but tried to escape by driving off.
However, his flight was short-lived and he was apprehended by other people before police arrived.
Nick Dewald, 23, of Alix is also charged with theft of less than $5,000.
He hasn’t made his first court appearance yet because he is working out of the province and is expected to deal with the charge once he returns to Alberta, police said earlier.