A Cottage Grove man has been sentenced to six years in prison for shooting a food delivery driver near his townhouse in 2021.
Otis Donnell Shipp, 50, was convicted of first-degree assault and given a 74-month prison term Tuesday by Washington County District Judge Richard Ilkka. Shipp was given credit for 154 days already served in custody.
The assault charge was added as part of a plea deal that Shipp reached with prosecutors in March. In exchange for the guilty plea, a charge of second-degree attempted murder was dismissed.
According to the criminal complaint, Shipp fired several shots at an Uber Eats driver from his driveway in the 8700 block of Ironwood Avenue just before 10:30 p.m. Nov. 23, 2021. The driver, who was dropping off an Applebee’s order at another townhouse, was hit in the left shoulder.
The driver told officers he was returning to his car after leaving an order at a doorstep when a gunman asked what he was doing. Before he could answer, the gunman opened fire.
The driver, who drove to a nearby Holiday gas station and sought help, was taken by ambulance to Regions Hospital in St. Paul to be treated for injuries.
Investigators found five spent 9mm shell casings in Shipp’s driveway.
Neighborhood surveillance video showed the driver shouting that he was a delivery driver as he ran away. Video also showed Shipp following the driver in his car to the gas station, but not pulling in.
‘Honest but unreasonable fear’
Shipp’s attorney, Tyler Bliss, asked the court for a downward departure from sentencing guidelines, writing in a presentence motion to consider his client’s “deep fear of unexpected violence.”
Shipp witnessed a murder at the St. Paul Saloon on Feb. 23, 2021, according to Bliss. One of the alleged killers remained at large until this March, causing Shipp to have “continual fear that he would still be targeted because he was a witness to this shooting.”
On the night of the Cottage Grove shooting, Shipp was taking out his recycling bin when he saw an idling car blocking his driveway. He went inside to get his garbage and also grabbed his handgun, Bliss said.
Shipp, after seeing the driver in a wooded area across the street, then fired the shots, while “acting on an honest but unreasonable fear,” said Bliss, who had asked the court to hand down a two-year prison sentence.