HOLLAND, MI (WHTC-AM/FM) – Four Park Township 18-year olds pled not guilty on charges of the unlawful taking of a turkey.
Accused in the Fourth of July death of a Waukazoo Woods turkey nicknamed Token or Mr. Gobbles by neighbors there are Megan DeMeester, Thomas Sinclair, Benjamin Slenk and Eli Vander Lee, all of whom could get up to 90 days in jail and/or a two thousand-dollar fine if convicted of the misdemeanor charge. They entered their pleas on Monday morning before Holland District Court Judge Susan Jonas, with no preliminary hearing date immediately determined.
The four were identified by a witness who told police she knew the group from Holland Christian High School and happened to be walking her dog past the the DeMeester home at time of the incident. She later told police she saw three men chase the turkey down on the road, and DeMeester hit the bird with a white sedan.
The turkey was still moving when Vander Lee and Slenk allegedly used blunt instruments to beat the bird senseless, at which point DeMeester allegedly ran the turkey over a second time, according to the Holland Sentinel.
-Peg McNichol contributed to this report
