CALIFORNIA -- The woman charged with nearly hitting a good Samaritan with her vehicle after one of her pit bulls attacked his friend was sentenced to two years in jail.
Cheryl Morrow, 51, pleaded guilty Monday to owning a mischievous animal which caused great bodily injury — a felony — after the prosecution agreed to drop an assault with a deadly weapon charge, court records show.
Morrow was credited with 106 days for time served and good behavior, according to court records.
On the same day, Morrow was sentenced at the Victorville Courthouse to an additional two years in jail, to run concurrently to the other sentence, for violating probation stemming from an earlier and unrelated drug charge, court records show.
Calls to both the deputy district attorney and Morrow’s public defender were not immediately returned.
Morrow was arrested May 19 at Barstow Junior High following a bizarre sequence of events.
After one of her four pit bulls bit a juvenile in his right thigh area, Morrow loaded all her dogs in her vehicle and tried to drive away, according to previous law enforcement reports.
The victim was later treated at Barstow Community Hospital and released, police said.
A friend of the victim, 19-year-old Michael Levens, was riding his bicycle nearby at the time and attempted to intervene.
Levens placed his bike near the rear driver-side tire of Morrow’s vehicle to prevent her from leaving before she allegedly sped off and nearly hit him, according to previous reports.
Morrow was arrested less than two hours later on the 600 block of Elm Street, but Levens’ bike had been totaled.
Three days later, President of Barstow Community Football and Cheer John “Tex” Williams and Walmart General Manager Robert Lewis banded together to buy Levens a new one.
The dog identified to be responsible for the attack was placed under a 10-day quarantine but has since been returned to individuals connected to Morrow.
“They bailed it out,” Barstow Humane Society Animal Control Officer Chris Schreiner said Tuesday. “They have custody of the dog again. (All of Morrow’s dogs) are all legal and fixed.”
At the conclusion of the quarantine, the owners had the option to pay to get the dog back or it would become property of the facility, Schreiner explained in May.
(Desert Dispatch - July 2, 2013)
