Kentucky man sentenced to 20 years for shooting at helicopter, police in Harrison County
A man who was accused in 2017 of firing shots at a helicopter and police officers in Harrison County pleaded guilty in November to 12 of the 20 criminal counts he was charged with.
Thomas Field VanMeter III, 41, was sentenced to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to eight counts of wanton endangerment, two counts of criminal mischief, a count marijuana possession and a count of drug paraphernalia possession, according to court records. Eight counts of attempted murder were dismissed in the plea deal.
On Sept. 11, 2017, Harrison County school releases were delayed and people were told to stay inside and lock their doors as police searched for VanMeter. The Harrison County Sheriff’s Office described him at the time as “armed and dangerous” during the search and arrested him the next day.
In the final judgment of the case filed on Nov. 7 of this year, Circuit Court Judge Jay Delaney wrote that considering probation or alternative sentencing would “unduly depreciate the seriousness of the defendant’s crime.”
Multiple lawsuits have been filed in connection with the 2017 shooting, including one by the pilot of the helicopter VanMeter shot at, George McMakin.
On the day of the shooting, McMakin was a contracted pilot flying for a routine transmission line patrol with a Kentucky Utilities employee when he heard a “tack tack tack sound,” according to the lawsuit, which was filed against VanMeter in September 2018. McMakin didn’t know what the sound was, but was afraid that a piece may have been coming off the helicopter.
McMakin made an emergency landing in a remote field and turned off the helicopter, according to the lawsuit. He found what looked like an exit hole from a bullet in one of the helicopter blades.
McMakin called 911 and his wife as he checked the rest of the helicopter, according to the lawsuit. There was a second bullet hole on the front of the aircraft.
McMakin then spotted another person in the field, who began firing shots at him and his passenger, according to the lawsuit. As McMakin and the passenger ran from the man, they heard more gunfire.
Police arrived to rescue McMakin and the passenger, but McMakin was so distressed by what happened that he hasn’t been able to work since, according to the lawsuit.
Haverfield International Incorporated, the owner of the helicopter McMakin was flying, filed their own lawsuit against VanMeter in September of this year. In the lawsuit, they say their helicopter was seriously damaged and that they “lost a skilled pilot.”
In the criminal case, Delaney also ordered VanMeter to pay thousands of dollars in restitution, including $242,585 to Haverfield Aviation, Inc. and $76,905 to McMakin, according to court records.
It was also ordered that $10,600 that was seized from VanMeter’s house be forfeited and applied to his court costs and restitution, according to court records. A property in Cynthiana must be sold by the end of the year, the judge ordered.
Guns, ammunition and motorcycles seized from VanMeter were also forfeited to the Harrison County Sheriff’s Office, according to court records. They will “be used for direct law enforcement purposes or be disposed of pursuant to statute.”
