Man gets probation in Jefferson Twp. shooting over attempted bike theft

He also was sent to the MonDay Community Correctional Institution — a community-based facility that offers a secure treatment environment — and was ordered to forfeit his pistol. If he violates probation, he faces six to 18 months in prison, according to the Montgomery County Prosecutor’s Office.

Montgomery County Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched around 10:10 a.m. Nov. 3, 2023, to the intersection of South Union and Derby roads in Jefferson Twp., where they found a 52-year-old man suffering from gunshot wounds to the right shoulder and left chest. He was taken to Miami Valley Hospital for treatment of life-threatening injuries.

Investigators at the scene followed a lengthy blood trail, and a K-9 track led to a trailer parked on property in the 1600 block of South Union Road where MacInnes lived, according to an affidavit filed in Montgomery County Municipal Court - Western Division in Trotwood.

During an interview with detectives, MacInnes said he heard someone cutting his bicycle chain and confronted the thief.

“MacInnes claimed he had intended to scare the thief, but had tripped and accidentally discharged the firearm several times at (the gunshot victim), who MacInnes initially claimed not to know despite living upon the same property,” the document read.

MacInnes told detectives the firearm, a 1911 style handgun, was inside a plastic bag in a cooler on his porch.

The attorney for MacInnes asked for probation because his client has no prior record, is employed and has been compliant with bond conditions.

“The defendant readily admits that he used bad judgment … and ensures this court that a similar incident will not happen again,” Christopher Deal wrote in a sentencing memorandum.

Prosecutors said MacInness deserved incarceration based on the seriousness of the victim’s injury.

“The defendant’s decision to take the law into his own hands and shoot (the victim) for allegedly attempting to steal his bicycle led to a near death situation for victim, a surgical scar from armpit to armpit, and 10 days in the ICU. While defendant has no criminal record, his actions were profoundly serious and nearly fatal — all over a bike,” a sentencing memo filed by the prosecution stated.