Clearwater County Man Faces Federal Complaint

Federal prosecutors have filed a complaint alleging three crimes by 71-year-old Carstie Lee Clausen accused of shooting a U.S. Customs and Border Protection helicopter flying over suspected marijuana grow.

The complaint filed against Clausen states a drug task force agent, who also works as a Polk County deputy, “received information from random people over the last six months that Clausen had possibly been growing marijuana on his property” about 16 miles northwest of Bagley, Minn.

FBI Special Agent Mark Meyers, in a complaint filed this week in Minneapolis, recommended charges of assault on a federal agent with a dangerous weapon, damaging an aircraft within special jurisdiction of the United States and discharging a firearm during the commission of a violent crime.

Clausen remains jailed on three state felony charges, including second-degree attempted murder, with bail set at $300,000 without conditions or $150,000 with conditions.