Clark County man sentenced to at least 17 years for shots fired at summer yard sale

Shots were fired at neighbors’ property, law enforcement responding to call.
A man was taken into custody after firing several rounds during his neighbors' garage sale. Many bullets struck neighbor Amy James' storage barn and hay bales. JESSICA OROZCO/STAFF.

Credit: Jessica Orozco

Credit: Jessica Orozco

A man was taken into custody after firing several rounds during his neighbors' garage sale. Many bullets struck neighbor Amy James' storage barn and hay bales. JESSICA OROZCO/STAFF.

A Pike Twp. man was sentenced Tuesday to 17 to 21 years prison time on three counts of felonious assault for shooting a high-powered rifle at his neighbors’ property in the 7000 block of Ballentine Pike, and at two police officers.

Danny Jeffers, 70, was convicted by a jury last month for shooting targets with an AR-15 short-barreled rifle near his neighbors’ yard sale and hitting their barn when one of the property owners was nearby on Aug. 4. Shots were also fired at the property owner, German Twp. Police Chief Mike Stitzel and Clark County Deputy Douglas Peterson, causing all three men to take cover.

Each felonious assault charge includes a three-year firearm specification, to be served consecutively to the charges and to one another.

Around 10:15 a.m., police were called while property owner Amy James and about 20 people sheltered in a barn on the property as gunshots were ongoing, she said in August. When the shots appeared to be finished, she said her husband went out with police to show the damage to the barn he observed when the neighbor began shooting while he was there.

James said the neighbor often shoots guns whenever the family is holding a yard sale, which is frequent. James and her husband buy storage facilities to sell their contents.

Bullets struck a new storage barn at the back of the James’ property, leaving holes in the walls and roof, and through tarps covering bales of hay. The barn contains treasured items, she said, including two model barns that James’ grandparents made for her. These were inches from a bullet hole.

According to court records, when police arrived, a woman got Jeffers to come out of his house to speak with them, but when they and one of the property owners were evaluating damage, they “started taking rapid fire.” They took cover then retreated to the property’s main barn when the shooting stopped.

Jeffers had left but was arrested after returning home.

Jeffers has the right to appeal his conviction and sentence. He will serve his sentence at the Orient Correctional Facility.

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