03/28/2008

Associated Press

A northwest Missouri man has filed a federal lawsuit claiming an elected official assaulted him over his opposition to a wind farm near his property.

Charles Allen Porter of King City claims that Gentry County Commissioner Gary Carlson -- with the help of Porter's brother -- beat him in a dispute over the Bluegrass Ridge Wind Farm. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages for medical bills.

The wind farm was completed in 2007.

Porter claims he was beaten Feb. 2 on a rural road near his home. The lawsuit says Porter received a phone call from Carlson in which the commissioner threatened to kill him.

Porter said he called sheriff's deputies to warn them of possible trouble, but the lawsuit claims deputies believed Carlson's account of the incident and arrested Porter.

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