I don’t think either of these guys should be allowed back in the Boundary Waters.

Two men in court over snowmobile chase in Boundary Waters

Two men who led Department of Natural Resources conservation officers on a high-speed snowmobile chase made their initial appearances in 6th District Court on Monday at the Lake County Courthouse.

By: LaReesa Sandretsky, Lake County News-Chronicle

Two men who led Department of Natural Resources conservation officers on a high-speed snowmobile chase made their initial appearances in 6th District Court on Monday at the Lake County Courthouse.

One of the men is the ringleader of a 2007 drunken, gun-shooting, fireworks-lighting terroristic rampage on Basswood Lake. This time, he and his companion tore through the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness on snowmobiles, leading officers on a chase across the same Basswood Lake.

Barney Lakner, 44, of Ely and Edward Zupancich, 26, of Babbitt will appear in court again March 7 for a pretrial hearing.

The two were arrested Jan. 11 while snowmobiling in the BWCAW, where snowmobiles are banned by federal law.

Both face felony charges for fleeing an officer on a motor vehicle, as well as a slew of misdemeanor charges including littering and operating a snowmobile in a careless manner. Zupancich is out on $10,000 bail and Lakner on $20,000 bail.

According to the criminal complaint, three Minnesota state conservation officers were involved in the chase. At two points during the pursuit, Lakner’s snowmobile apparently rammed the officers’ snowmobiles, officers said in the complaint. The officers said they were traveling up to 80 mph during the pursuit.

It’s at least the third time Lakner has been arrested for major snowmobiling violations — he was arrested by U.S. Forest Service officers on Crooked Lake in 2004 and charged with fleeing officers on a snowmobile in St. Louis County in 2000.

In 2007, Lakner and five others motor-boated, illegally, into Basswood Lake, where they used firearms and fireworks to terrorize campers, also threatening to rape and torture them. The case gained national attention.

Lakner avoided a trial by pleading guilty to five charges, including three felonies. He was sentenced to a mandatory minimum term of three years in a state prison. Assistant Lake County Attorney Lisa Hanson said he was discharged in August 2011.