Posted on 12/12/2010 5:15:51 AM PST by marktwain
COUNCIL GROVE She nailed her 16-year-old daughters bedroom window shut.
That didnt work.
She struggled with the girl and her 21-year-old boyfriend to keep her from leaving with him.
That didnt work either.
So she grabbed her varmint rifle, chambered a round and took aim at the right rear tire as he sped out of their driveway.
Now, high school physics and chemistry teacher and mom Karen Vondemkamp faces two felony counts for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and one felony count for aggravated battery in January trial even though, she said she fired into the ground.
As I aimed at his tire I just decided not to go ahead and fire at the tire. I thought what if I missed I thought this probably isnt the right thing to do, so I lowered the gun, and my finger still pulled on the trigger more out of frustration than anything.
She could spend a year in prison and pay a $100,000 fine and lose her teaching license.
She was trying to stop her daughter, Hannah, from leaving with boyfriend, Justin Allenbaugh April 20. Their home is in rural Morris County just outside Council Grove city limits.
For months Vondemkamp said she told Hannah she could date Allenbaugh only if they were supervised.
She said she told the girl he could hang out that evening at home, and even offered to order pizza.
Apparently upset with those restrictions, Allenbaugh dropped Hannah off.
Vondemkamp confronted her. She said she grabbed Hannahs arm to turn her around to talk to her, and Hannah flipped her onto the bed. They struggled.
When Vondemkamp left the room, Hannah texted Allenbaugh to call 911. But, he returned to the home, according to court records.
Minutes later Vondemkamp returned to confiscate Hannahs communication devices.
According to police reports Allenbaugh arrived minutes later. Mother and daughter battled at the front door. Allenbaugh used his foot and put my weight into the door a little bit. Vondemkamp was trying to keep the door locked and asked Allenbaugh to go away.
With a 50 lb. weight advantage, Allenbaugh restrained Vondemkamp. Hannah ran to his car.
After Vondemkamp smacked a window on Allenbaughs car and asked her daughter not to leave, Allenbaugh restrained Vondemkamp again, which allowed Hannah to walk away.
When he let Vondemkamp go, she ran to get her .223 caliber single-shot rifle. With Hannah perhaps a hundred yards away and the car much closer, Vondemkamp an experienced hunter briefly contemplated shooting out a tire.
Council Grove police and the Morris County sheriff never found the bullet.
Allenbaugh admitted in his own testimony to forcefully entering her home and restraining Vondemkamp three times, yet he was never charged.
Vondemkamps view is they kind of ignored everything I said and believed everything they [Hannah and Allenbaugh] said. She said she wonders what happened to her rights as a parent.
One police report showed Vondemkamp as a victim and Hannah as suspect but apparently was ignored when charges were filed.
The Attorney Generals office accepted the case for prosecution but did not respond to requests for comment.
For more details from police reports and interviews with Vondemkamp and Allenbaugh, read the two-part story:
* Moms perspective of felony charges for gun discharge * Mom faces felony charges: perspective of daughter, boyfriend, and law enforcement
Documents cited above
* Kansas Standard Offense Report showing Karen Vondemkamp victim and Hannah Vondemkamp suspect, April 20, 2010. * Partial Transcript of Preliminary Hearing, State of Kansas v. Karen Vondemkamp, June 14, 2010. * Amended Complaint, State of Kansas v. Karen Vondemkamp, June 16, 2010.
“My uncle would show the guys that dated his daughter his gun collection on their first date. They were few second dates.”
I thought some sort of display of firearms was Standard Operating Procedure for a first date. I know I always let the young men that dated my daughter know that I was a concealed carry firearms instructor. If the occasion arose, I would also let them observe that I always carried a pocket knife (Cold Steel Voyager 5 1/2 inch) and was reasonably well practiced in opening it one handed.
Look, let the little twit go. She’ll be knocked up in a week and then she’s on her own. Get rid of her. Bad spawn. It happens. When she’s forty, and a hag, and living on the streets with fifteen diseases she may reflect on what a moron she was. Probably not!
It’s Kansas. California of the Plains.
Mark for later
Or at least the ability to read. :-)
16-21? Nope, too old.
I know the answer to one of your questions. The 21 year old was invited in by one of the occupants of the home - the daughter. It is virtually impossible to restrain anyone from your home when your teenage child is out of control. I know, we tried. It is something of a miracle that neither my husband nor I was arrested. Probably most of the time the perp(s) had active warrants and so didn’t call 911. The good news is that we are now have adult children who are doing well. We survived. I’m finally able to go back and look at the photos without crying.
One other comment.... what mom should have done was to remove everything from the girl’s room except a mattress and a blanket and one change of clothes. Only food in the house - oatmeal and milk. The girl will run away and the mom will have to report that. Then just let go. At 16, too late to change her. She will probably come back. It may take ten years but she’ll probably come back.
This isn’t “love”, this is control and possession.
This “man” sounds obsessed with this teenager and unwilling to take “NO” for an answer. If he’ll bully the Mom to get his way, it’s just a matter of time before he exerts full physical and mental control over the girl. Do you think he will ever let her go, peacefully and normally?
What a sad thing when a stalker or sicko comes into your life. I don’t know if sending the girl away to a secure boarding school or taking her and fleeing would even save her at this point. Seems like being a “normal”
16 yr old worried about book reports, passing algebra, and prom gowns, is way over.
I really hope they get the girl to admit they're having sex (and you know they are or that 21 year old would be long gone!) so he can be charged with statutory rape. Too bad the mom hadn't made more of a legal paper trail before this incident with a restraining order or something.
Not happening. Age of consent is 16 in Kansas.
Shouldn't it something more like unlawful discharge of a weapon?
Allenbaugh admitted in his own testimony to forcefully entering her home and restraining Vondemkamp three times, yet he was never charged.
Hmmm.
She said she wonders what happened to her rights as a parent.
Gone the way of a lot of other rights.
But one has to wonder. In many place parents can be charged and jailed for the behavior of their 16 YO child. But at the same time, they are legally limited to essentially no power to regulate the child's behavior.
Realistically, short of tying one up, not much can be done to force a 16 YO to comply.
So far no proof but no 21 year old guy is going to hang around a 16 year old unless they are having sex.
One of them needs to admit it, though, for charges to be filed, I'll agree.
i carried a service switchblade in HS overseas as a security measure, but that was back when young men were expected to be able to protect the young ladies in their care. The MILGROUP actually encouraged it. Wore out the pocket of several sets of 501s.
Colonel, USAFR
“So far no proof but no 21 year old guy is going to hang around a 16 year old unless they are having sex.”
Right. I’m sure the window wasn’t the only thing in that house that got nailed.
‘Know the difference between a rifle and a shotgun’ — well, some of us (musicians) are here because it is a top-notch place to LEARN the differences. haha
I count my blessings that I got to raise sons instead of daughters.
I think you have hit the nail on the head. I raised 3 boys. None of them (nor any of my brothers or any of the other men I know well) would have ever behaved in this manner. And if any guy I had ever dated had behaved like this I would have thrown him out of the house myself. Something is very wrong with this guy AND his relationship with this girl. And it’s not JUST the age difference.
Last time I checked, an unrelated adult using force to remove a child from a parent and then fleeing with said child is still considered kidnapping. I do believe as a parent I’d contact the F.B.I.
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