An Oregon man will pay nearly $4,000 in fines after pleading guilty to killing two bald eagles he hit with a truck in Dutch Harbor last year.
Dennis Thompson of Union, Oregon, entered a guilty plea in Unalaska District Court last week to harassing or molesting game in the June 7 incident, according to a dispatch posted online Tuesday by Alaska State Troopers.
At the time, troopers said Thompson, 29, encountered several eagles on a road near the local landfill, but "plowed through them and kept going." Other eagles in the group were injured, but none of them were captured.
Thompson received a state fine of $1,000 with $500 suspended, as well as one year of probation.
"In addition, the court ordered Thompson to pay $3,400 in restitution to the Bird Treatment and Learning Center in Anchorage," troopers wrote.
Though bald eagles are protected under federal law, U.S. Fish and Wildlife spokesperson Andrea Medeiros said Tuesday that the agency had worked with Alaska Wildlife Troopers in the Thompson case and would not be pursuing federal charges.