Two freeway sign-throwers sentenced

Last update: November 11, 2009 - 12:08 AM

Two women who pleaded guilty to throwing metal road signs off the Interstate 94 bridge in downtown St. Paul onto the freeway were each sentenced Tuesday to seven years of probation. The incident took place Sept. 1, 2008, the first day of the Republican National Convention.

Karen Meissner, 23, and Christina Vana, 20, pleaded guilty in Ramsey County District Court on Sept. 1, 2009, to second-degree assault. Their plea agreements called for a stay-of-imposition sentence and a 90-day limit on jail time.

District Judge Teresa Warner told each woman that jail time would be too easy to serve and then forget about. She ordered each woman to do at least eight hours of community service every month for the next two years. They can do more, the judge said, but will only get credit for eight hours each month.

Warner gave Meissner credit for the five days she has spent in jail and Vana credit for six days. In addition to the general rules of probation, the judge ordered the women to submit to DNA testing, pay a $100 fine plus court fees and maintain full-time work.

Both women currently live in Minnesota, although the criminal complaints list Meissner's home in Menomonee Falls, Wis., and Vana's in West Bend, Wis.

Attorney Ted Dooley, who represented Meissner, told the judge, "My client is not a stupid person although this particular act was a stupid act."

PAT PHEIFER

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