Roger Welch, 54, rural Moran, was placed on diversion from a charge of misdemeanor battery in the Dec. 22 shooting of Zeffrey Doolittle, then 17 and today 18.
Welch shot Doolittle in the back with a shotgun after he said the youth tried to steal gasoline from an overhead storage tank on his farm.
When Doolittle realized Welch was near, he dropped a can he was carrying and fled. Welch, who had had gasoline stolen previously, first fired a shot in the air. A second round of pellets hit Doolittle in the back.
Officers later found…
