A grand jury on Thursday indicted 46-year-old Deputy Steve Benoy on two misdemeanor charges of animal cruelty. Online jail records Friday did not list Benoy, who's been on administrative leave since the July 2012 incident, as being in custody.
"We actually had two cases charged on him because there were two dogs that are deceased," said Trey Banack, a prosecutor with the Bexar County White Collar Crime Division.
"One dog is Hades and the other K-9 dog is Vegas," Banack said.
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| Deputy Steve Benoy of the Bexar County Sheriff K9 Unit salutes as he holds his dog Blitz. Photo: July 6, 2007 |
Former Bexar County Sheriff Amadeo Ortiz defended Benoy back in 2012. Ortiz said Benoy got distracted that day by an injured horse on his property.
"Deputy Benoy has been a dedicated officer during his career; he has never received any discipline during his tenure with the Sheriff's Office. It is my belief that this is a tragic accident however; the Sheriff's Office is following standard procedures in conducting a thorough investigation," Ortiz wrote in the statement.
Benoy forgot to take the dogs out of the SUV's built in kennel. A day later, Benoy found the dogs dead, likely from heat exhaustion. Shortly following the incident, Ortiz said Benoy was completely devastated by the loss of his dogs.
A judge will officially indict Deputy Benoy in the next coming days. A warrant will then be issued for his arrest and his case will be assigned to a court.
If convicted, the punishment range for that particular offense - a Class A Misdemeanor - is up to one year in county jail or up to two years community supervision and up to a $4,000 fine.
Benoy is not the first deputy charged with animal cruelty.
In 2010, the DA's office filed charges against Ebony Jones. "That is also for animal cruelty for one K-9 officer," said Banack.
"Duke," a drug dog, allegedly died under the care of Jones. Investigators say Jones ignored signs Duke was sick.
They say the dog was left in a hot patrol car.
Jones was fired from the department in March 2011 and is still awaiting trial.
(Fox29 - Feb 7, 2014)
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