Jaime L. DeYoung, 29, and Christopher P. Murphy, 31, both of whom have a previous address in Somersworth, were each charged with a single misdemeanor count on Nov. 27, nearly three months after Rochester police officers observed the dog’s injury, according to Capt. Jason Thomas.
Thomas said officers were called to Hanson Pines on Aug. 29 to investigate a littering complaint. DeYoung and Murphy had been living for some time at the site where the complaint originated, according to police.
During the investigation, Thomas said the officer noticed the duo had a pit bull mix living with them and that the dog had difficult walking due to either an injury or deformation to its front right leg.
The incident report from that day states DeYoung and Murphy told the officer the dog, who was named Poppy, had the injury for approximately a week and that they had scheduled an appointment for a veterinarian to evaluate the injury.
According to Thomas, officers later determined DeYoung and Murphy allegedly lied about scheduling an appointment.
Rochester’s animal control officer took custody of the dog on Aug. 30, after which a vet determined the dog had a broken leg, according to Thomas. Thomas said DeYoung and Murphy surrendered the dog to the animal control officer.
“The charges brought forward allege that the two did nothing in a week’s time to relieve the dog from its suffering,” said Thomas.
They were considered wanted individuals and were formally taken into custody on Nov. 27 after Somersworth Police located them at Tri-City Tool Crib in Somersworth as part of a theft by unauthorized taking incident. Court staff said Tuesday that records only list DeYoung in that theft case, which is pending.
Following their arrest in the animal cruelty case, DeYoung and Murphy were each released on $1,500 personal recognizance bail. Both are scheduled to be arraigned in Rochester District Court at 8 a.m. on Jan. 8.
Poppy was highlighted on Cocheco Valley Humane Society’s Facebook page after the animal shelter took custody of the dog in September. The post states the dog, whose new name is Lucy, has found a new home. The post also states that the broken leg miraculously healed on its own after staff splinted it for a period of time, ultimately bypassing the intensive surgery or amputation that staff initially thought would be needed due to the severity of her fractures.
In a separate case, a Strafford County Superior Court grand jury indicted Jaime DeYoung in June 2016 on a class B felony count of possession of a controlled drug. In court paperwork, police allege DeYoung, who at the time was living on Beacon Street in Somersworth, possessed an undisclosed quantity of fentanyl in Somersworth on April 18, 2016.
Court records indicate that the prosecutor ultimately decided to drop the case. A related drug possession charge, related to heroin or crack, was also dismissed in the case, according to court documents.
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