A Wood County judge found probable cause Friday in the drunken driving case against a 48-year-old Pittsville woman after authorities say her two pit bulls attacked the deputy.
Cora M. Fuller appeared Friday afternoon in Wood County Circuit Court via video conference from the jail on potential charges of fourth-offense drunken driving, obstruction and resisting an officer.
Judge Nicholas Brazeau Jr. found probable cause to proceed with the case, set a $1,500 cash bond and ordered Fuller to maintain absolute sobriety.
Wood County District Attorney Craig Lambert said Fuller ran away from the deputy and back into her house twice when he tried to arrest her Thursday, and that increased the possibility she would leave the area or not show up for court if she was released from jail. Emily Nolan-Plutchak, a public defender who represented Fuller at Friday’s bond hearing, argued for a signature bond, saying Fuller has lived in the Pittsville area her entire life and that her most recent drunken driving conviction was about a decade ago.
Fuller pleaded with the judge either to lower the cash bond or issue a signature bond instead, saying $1,500 amounted to three months worth of mortgage payments. Brazeau said a cash bond is standard in the case of drunken driving cases. The one family member in the courtroom began to cry.
According to court records, including a firsthand account from Deputy Scott Goldberg:
At about 5 p.m. Thursday, Goldberg was driving along Veedum Street — also known as Highway E — in Pittsville, when he saw Fuller driving without a seat belt. Goldberg activated his squad car’s emergency lights and pulled into a driveway at 8342 Veedum St. and saw Fuller get out of her vehicle. Goldberg yelled at her to get her to stop, but Fuller went into the house.
The deputy talked to Fuller through the window, and Fuller told him to write her a ticket for not wearing a seat belt, according to the report. A short time later, she came out of the house, and Goldberg smelled alcohol. He asked her whether she had been drinking; she said she had not. The deputy then asked whether she had drunk any alcohol while inside her house. Fuller said no, but then paused and then said she did.
Goldberg asked Fuller to come closer to the squad car, but she attempted to go back into her house. The deputy grabbed her arm, but the woman tried to pull away. The deputy ordered her to stop, and she pulled away, opened the door to her house and continued to fight.
Two large pit bulls came from inside and bit the deputy at least two times in the buttock and the lower right leg, according to the report. Goldberg then shot each dog once, and both animals moved away. One of the dogs later had to be euthanized because of its injuries, and the other is recovering.
Deputies then used a public address system to call Fuller back outside, but she refused, according to court records. Authorities later entered the house and arrested Fuller, who performed poorly on a field sobriety test. Fuller blew a 0.068 on a preliminary breath test, though Department of Transportation records show she is not allowed to drive with more than 0.02 percent.
As of Friday afternoon, Sheriff’s Department personnel had completed their investigation but are waiting for blood test results, Lt. Shawn Becker said. It could take as long as three weeks to get those results back, Lambert told the court during the bond hearing. Fuller’s next appearance is scheduled for Oct. 14.
Pittsville resident Frank Skrenes, who said he’s Fuller’s brother, said his sister was sitting on his porch with other family members. She got up to go home — she lives three blocks away from him, just across the Yellow River bridge — and when she started to drive away, a Wood County Sheriff’s Department squad vehicle activated its emergency lights to pull her over. He said his sister pulled into her driveway, and the squad vehicle pulled in behind her. Skrenes said he later heard what sounded like two gunshots.
Skrenes said his sister’s dogs, Zeus and Sassy, were not doing anything wrong but rather were responding to what they perceived as a threat to their owner.
“They did their job; they protected their owner,” Skrenes said. “It was wrong what this cop did. ... What happened (Thursday) night was a travesty of justice.
“This was not a pit bull attacking a cop,” he said. “It was a dog protecting its mama.”
Meanwhile, Wood County’s top law enforcement official said Friday the deputy was justified in shooting the two pit bulls.
The deputy was released from the hospital and is recovering at home from his injuries, which were multiple bites that “were very uncomfortable in nature,” Wood County Sheriff Thomas Reichert said.
“(His actions), I feel, were very, very appropriate and well within his duties as a deputy sheriff,” he said.
The incident serves as a public reminder of the dangerous situations law enforcement officers encounter on a daily basis, Reichert said.
“This is an exceptionally dangerous profession, and we can never underestimate that,” he said. “Danger takes a lot of different forms, and this type of thing is certainly one of them.”
(Marshfield News Herald - Sept 28, 2013)
No comments:
Post a Comment