Two men who took to a canoe to watch the famed Ryder Cup international golf tournament in Chaska last fall have had the charges dismissed, joining two others who also had their cases thrown out for accessing the same lake that weekend in a floatplane.

Ryan J. Hough, 34, of Waconia, and Craig J. Bardal, 32, of Chaska, had a trial in Carver County District Court scheduled for Monday before the charges were dropped.

The county attorney’s office said in court filings that it made its decision to not pursue the charges “in the interests of justice.”

In explaining late last year why the two were willing to either sink or swim in court, Bardal said, “It’s kind of the principle of the matter. I don’t feel that Ryan and I did anything wrong.”

Bardal added that even though Lake Hazeltine has no public access, “we had permission from a private landowner” to get on the water.

If convicted, each could have been fined as much as $300. This plane landed on a lake last fall during the Ryder Cup.

In late November, petty misdemeanor charges also were dismissed against the two men whose Piper single-engine airplane gently rippled Lake Hazeltine on Oct. 2 near the 10th green during the final round between the U.S. and European squads at Hazeltine National.

In a court filing, prosecutors pointed to the “unlikelihood of success at trial” in their cases against plane passenger James D. Render, 64, of Wayzata, and pilot Dean S. Johnson, 60, of Chanhassen.

Police Chief Scott Knight said a city ordinance prohibited any activity on the lake during the event. Knight was unavailable to comment about the allegations his department made against the four leading to dismissals for each defendant.

Our editors found this article on this site using Google and regenerated it for our readers.