January 31, 2015 - Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced today that a Miller, Mo., man, David Leroy Dickenson has been indicted by a federal grand jury for shooting at an airplane. 

Dickenson, 38, of Miller, was charged in an indictment returned under seal by a federal grand jury in Springfield, Mo., on Jan. 20, 2015. That indictment was unsealed and made public following Dickenson’s arrest and initial court appearance. Dickenson remains in federal custody pending the court’s ruling on a detention motion. 

The federal indictment alleges that Dickenson attempted to set fire to, damage, destroy, disable and wreck a 1997 S2R 510 Thrush aircraft on Dec. 3, 2014. Dickenson allegedly shot a firearm at an aircraft engaged in crop dusting then attempted to dispose of the firearm to prevent its discovery by law enforcement. 

Back in December, a pilot crop dusting in a Thrush aircraft in Lawrence County had been shot at more than 18 times. The pilot was unaware he was being shot at until he landed his aircraft at Lamar airport and saw all the bullet holes in his aircraft.