Minnesota Man Charged After Setting Spike Trap to Keep Children Off of His Lawn

A Minnesota man’s homemade solution to a neighborhood nuisance has landed him in legal trouble.

Law&Crime reported on Monday, August 3, that Kyle James Steffen, 39, was charged with setting a spring gun, pitfall, deadfall, or snare, a gross misdemeanor.

Steffen lives near Goodview Park in Wyoming, Minnesota, where officers were called after a woman reported he had been yelling at children to stay off his yard.

Steffen’s yard, she said, had become a popular shortcut for kids biking to the park’s playground. The woman also told police she’d spotted spikes planted in his grass.

When officers checked the area, they found a three-foot strip of clear plastic embedded with roughly 40 screws, each protruding about three inches, as per NBC affiliate KSDK. Bike tracks were visible beneath and around the strip, showing riders were still crossing the lawn.

Steffen admitted to police that he had put it there.

He said the makeshift trap was meant to stop kids from cutting through his property on their bikes on their way to the park, telling police the riders kept coming back “out of spite” despite his repeated warnings.

As per Fox9, he also told officers he had confronted the children directly on numerous occasions, but the warnings never stuck. Officers noted in the complaint that Steffen seemed frustrated the device was “not effective in keeping kids off of his lawn.”

Steffen was not taken into custody. He is due in court August 25 to face the charge, which carries a potential penalty of up to 180 days in jail or a $1,000 fine, according to KARE.