California: Sunnyvale Police K9 Jax stabbed to death by Jesus Birelas-Contreras

CALIFORNIA -- A man shot and killed by police Tuesday stabbed his girlfriend and fatally wounded a police dog named Jax before he threw a butcher knife at officers, according to the Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety.

Police said the confrontation marked the first time in department history one of its police dogs was killed in the line of duty.

“It’s a huge loss,” said Chief Phan Ngo. “(Jax) was a family member, and his void will always be felt. He will always be in our hearts.”

Wednesday, Sunnyvale police commanders detailed the violent episode that ended in the city’s first officer-involved shooting since 2015. It began with a report of a stabbing called in around 1 p.m. Tuesday at the upscale Encasa apartment complex on East Weddell Drive off Fair Oaks Avenue.

Officers arrived to find a 25-year-old woman suffering from a stab wound to her abdomen, and she told them that her boyfriend attacked her during an argument and that he was still inside a nearby apartment.

Police said the contingent of responding officers, including K-9 Officer Stephen Eckford and Jax, and Lt. Emmett Larkin, tried several times to get the man, 25-year-old Jesus Birelas-Contreras, to surrender peacefully.

When that failed, the officers sent in Jax to subdue and apprehend Birelas-Contreras, but the suspect severely wounded the dog with a knife, police said. At some point, the officers retrieved Jax and brought him to safety, after which he was taken to an animal hospital.

About 18 minutes into the standoff, as they continued trying to coax Birelas-Contreras into surrendering, he threw a 6-inch butcher knife at the officers, Ngo said.

That prompted Larkin to open fire with his service weapon, striking the suspect at least once. Birelas-Contreras was rushed to the hospital, where he died. Jax died from his wounds the same evening.

Ngo said the woman who had been stabbed was taken to the hospital where she was treated and released.

“We’re treating this as a domestic-violence (case) because of the general nature of their relationship,” Ngo said.

CAREER CRIMINAL AT THE AGE OF 25
Birelas-Contreras’ criminal background was not immediately available Wednesday, but a cursory search of Santa Clara County court records shows more than 20 criminal cases associated with his name and birth date.

Jax, a 4-year-old German Shepherd, had served for two years in Sunnyvale, and had 26 arrests to his credit, Ngo said. He leaves three surviving dogs in the department’s K-9 unit.

Eckford, Jax’s handler, was not made available for comment Wednesday.

A memorial service is being planned for Jax.

Larkin was placed on paid administrative leave while the police department conducts an investigation monitored by the District Attorney’s Office, which is routine after officer-involved shootings in the county.

(Mercury News - November 1, 2017)

Kansas: Topeka dog owner, Angelo Aldridge, 29, makes pleas tied to 2015 dog attack in Chesney park

KANSAS -- The owner of two pit bull-type dogs pleaded no contest on Thursday to three city infractions, all tied to the biting of an 11-year-old boy and two adults in August at a central Topeka park.

In Topeka Municipal Court, Angelo D. Aldridge, 29, apologized to bite victim Caleb Davis, 11, and said he felt heartbroken that anyone had been injured, was shocked by the attack and said he hadn’t raised the two dogs to behave this way.

Aldridge pleaded no contest to two counts each of having a dangerous dog, dog at large and not having a city tag. As part of the plea, four other counts of having a dangerous dog were dismissed.

Administrative Municipal Court Judge Jason Geier will sentence Aldridge on March 11.

Kevin Cook, Aldridge’s attorney, said that as part of the plea agreement, the recommended sentence is that Aldridge will pay fines, as well as restitution to the three victims for medical treatment of their injuries.

Witnesses describe seeing two pit bulls attacking children at

Chesney Park Thursday afternoon after being

attacked by the dogs themselves.

The recommended sentence also will include a suspended jail term, Cook said. Aldridge doesn’t have any criminal history of dangerous dog violations, Cook said.

Sarah Davis, Caleb Davis’ mother, watched the plea hearing on Thursday.

“I thought (Aldridge) should have some kind of consequence, but not much,” she said.

On the day of the dog attack, Caleb Davis, his two sisters and their four cousins were playing in the park. To escape the dogs, the boy climbed some monkey bars, where he remained for several minutes.

In this photo, a Topeka police officer 
fends off the two attacking dogs

Caleb Davis received two stitches for a dog bite in his lower left leg and one stitch for a bite behind his right ear. He also suffered puncture wounds and scrapes, his mother said. The Davis family lives near Chesney Park.

Two men from the neighborhood, Christopher Nelson and Elihote Trotter, ran to the park to get the dogs away from the children and suffered dog bites.

 

After the plea hearing, Caleb Davis viewed a video recording shot during the dog attack.

City of Topeka chief prosecutor Charles Kitt said that following the Aug. 6 attack, the dogs were quarantined.

Then, after about 30 days, the dogs were released to Helping Hands Humane Society, where the dogs were put to sleep, Kitt said. Helping Hands has the discretion to destroy the dogs in a situation like this, Kitt said.

 

 

On Aug. 6, police officers were called to Chesney Park at 2:09 p.m. The park is bordered by S.W. 18th on the north, S.W. 19th on the south, S.W. Clay on the east, and S.W. Buchanan on the west.

A witness said children sought refuge on playground equipment, a man was trapped on a picnic table as the two dogs circled the area and at least two other adults stood on various park objects.

A Topeka Fire Department truck sprayed the dogs with water to corral them into a grassy area of the park away from the children. A police officer tried to keep the dogs at bay with a nightstick, then shot and injured one dog. Both dogs were soon captured.

Kevin Cook is the owner of Cook and Associates, which has a contract with the city of Topeka to provide lawyers to represent indigent defendants.

(Topeka Capital Journal - Jan 28, 2016)

Earlier:

• Three people bitten by 2 dogs at Chesney Park; one dog shot, survives

Wisconsin: Zachary George Senner, 38, repeatedly tortured poor Cocker Spaniel to death

Some stories are so horrible, they're almost too much to read. This is one of those stories...

WISCONSIN -- A Milwaukee man is accused of stabbing an unwanted cocker spaniel to death after the dog repeatedly returned to its owners' home, once after having already been stabbed and left for dead, according to a criminal complaint.

Zachary George Senner, 38, is charged with felony mistreatment of an animal/use of a dangerous weapon in the stabbing and bludgeoning of the dog Dec. 27 in the 2700 block of S. 10th St., according to a criminal complaint.

Senner was in the Milwaukee County Jail on Thursday with bail set at $1,000, according to state court records.

According to the complaint:

Senner told police that he tried to find a new home for the dog, which belonged to his brother and sister-in-law, after the couple asked him to "get rid of the dog," named Brandy.

When he could not find someone willing to take the animal Senner tried leaving Brandy at a location away from the couple's residence, but the dog found its way back home.

Senner then "worked up the courage to get rid of the dog in a way that he thought was best," before taking Brandy outside of the home, pinning her down, slashing her throat with a butcher knife and using the handle of the knife to crush the dog's windpipe, according to the complaint.

Believing the dog was dead Senner took the animal to a dead end down the block and discarded it in a wooded area. However the dog returned to its owners' residence bleeding from its wounds, according to the complaint.

Senner and the couple then waited inside the home, hoping the dog would bleed out and die. When the dog "would not die", Senner pinned the dog down again and repeatedly stabbed the animal in the chest and abdomen until it stopped breathing, according to the complaint.

He then placed the dog in a garbage bag and dumped it in the same wooded area as he had before, according to the complaint.

If convicted Senner could be sentenced to up to 7 1/2-and-a-half years in prison, according to the complaint.

(JS Online - Jan 9, 2016)

Kansas: Three people bitten by 2 dogs at Chesney Park; one dog shot, survives

KANSAS -- A Topeka police officer who shot a pit bull type dog Thursday afternoon in central Topeka’s Chesney Park “probably saved several lives,” said Topeka Police Chief James Brown.

The dogs attacked and bit Caleb Davis, 11, who escaped to the top of some monkey bars, said his
aunt, Rochelle Davis. They also bit two men — ages 21 and 33, who tried to intervene — before one dog was shot and both were captured by Topeka police, said Deputy Police Chief Brian Desch said.

  

  

In this photo, a man stands on a picnic
table to avoid the two dogs attacking him.

Police weren’t releasing the name of the officer who shot the dog.

The captures ended a chaotic situation in which police and firefighters sought to subdue the dogs using a pole snare, a nightstick and water from firehoses, witnesses said.

Caleb was taken by private vehicle to a Topeka hospital while the men were taken by American Medical Response ambulances to Topeka hospitals. Their injuries — which included wounds to the arms, legs and torso — didn’t appear to be life-threatening, Desch said.

Both dogs remained alive and in custody, and one was being treated at a veterinarian’s office, he said.
Brown said at a news conference Thursday, “I think we did what the community pays us to do, and that is protect them.”

Desch said police had located a person thought to own the dogs, were continuing to investigate and hadn’t issued any citations.

Witnesses describe seeing two pit bulls attacking children at

Chesney Park Thursday afternoon after being

attacked by the dogs themselves.

He said police patrol officers and animal control officers were dispatched to the scene at 2:09 p.m. after receiving multiple calls regarding the attack on the southern edge of Chesney Park. The attack took place in the 1800 block between Clay and Buchanan streets.

Desch described Central Park as a “popular place for children to come and play.”

Rochelle Davis said she called police after the dogs attacked and bit Caleb as other youngsters took cover atop playground equipment.

“All the kids were screaming and panicking,” Davis said. “And they were all getting up high and telling me to get up high.”

Caleb — who subsequently climbed to safety atop some monkey bars — was taken to a Topeka hospital by his mother, Sarah Davis, Rochelle Davis said. Names of the other victims hadn’t been released.

In this photo, two girls take cover on a toy after two
 dogs attacked the area, injuring at least three

Topeka firefighters were the first authorities to arrive on the scene, where Davis said they used hoses to spray water to try to keep the dogs from getting to people.

At the time, the dogs were trying to get at a man who was atop a picnic table, police said.

No one was bitten after firefighters arrived, Desch said. He said the water firefighters sprayed kept the dogs down and directed them away from people.

After Topeka police patrol and animal control officers arrived, Desch said animal control officers used pole snares to try to subdue the dogs but they continued to be aggressive.

Desch said an officer next tried to deal with one of the dogs using a nightstick, which Brown said was “completely ineffective.”

That officer then fired a single shot, striking one of the dogs in the leg, Desch said. He indicated the dogs were taken into custody soon afterward.

People who came to the scene included a man who carried a butcher knife and a cell phone, which he used to videotape part of what happened, witnesses said. Police said they acquired and viewed the cellphone video.


In this photo, a Topeka police officer
fends off the two attacking dogs

Desch said two investigations were underway. One was to review the defensive action taken by the officer who shot the dog while other was to look into potential criminal charges related to the vicious dogs, he said.

Rochelle Davis said she thought the same dogs last week escaped their home and bit her sister, Sarah Davis, Caleb’s mother, who didn’t feel compelled to report it.

Anyone with knowledge of these incidents is asked to call the Topeka Police Department at (785) 368-9200 or Crime Stoppers at (785) 234-0007. Reports may also be made online at http://www.topekacrimestoppers.org/.

(CJ Online - Aug 6, 2015)

Pittsburgh man, Matthew Ondo, to serve 1-2 years in prison for decapitating Chihuahua

PENNSYLVANIA -- A Brighton Heights man who decapitated his mother's Chihuahua will spend one to two years in prison, an Allegheny County judge ruled Tuesday.

Matthew Ondo, 32, pleaded guilty Tuesday to animal cruelty. Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Beth Lazarra also sentenced him to five years of probation and ordered him to undergo substance abuse and mental health evaluations.

Matthew Ondo

In an apparently unrelated case, Ondo pleaded guilty Tuesday to corruption of minors and indecent exposure. Lazarra sentenced him to time served plus five years of probation on those charges.

Police arrested Ondo in February. Responding to a domestic call at his parents' house, they arrived to find a calm Ondo denying he killed the 14-month-old teacup Chihuahua named “Izzy,” police Officer Paul Abel says in the arrest complaint.

Ondo was covered in splatters of the dog's blood and flesh and police found his bloody machete and a bloody butcher's knife near the dog's body in the back yard, the complaint says.

Ondo remained calm as he began saying, according to police, “The devil did it. Allah did it.”

After officers placed him in the back of a cruiser, he repeatedly referred to the dog as a piece of excrement, the complaint says.

(Tribune-Review - July 14, 2015)

Earlier:

• Pittsburgh man allegedly decapitates family Chihuahua with machete, faces animal cruelty charges

Maryland: Elkton woman, Jasmine Lilly, stabbed boyfriend's dog

MARYLAND -- A woman stabbed her live-in boyfriend’s dog with a butcher knife outside their Elkton residence, after calling the fleeing animal back to her while chasing her beau and his pet with the weapon, police reported.

The boyfriend rushed his wounded dog, an American pit bull, to the VCA Animal Hospital near Elkton and, roughly 90 minutes after the incident, it “appeared that the dog would have to be euthanized,” Cpl. Ronald Odom of the Elkton Police Department wrote in his statement of probable cause.

Updated information on the dog was unavailable, as of early Tuesday afternoon.

The suspect, Jasmine Lilly, 26, of the unit block of Loran Court in Elkton — where the incident occurred — is charged with second-degree assault, aggravated animal cruelty and animal cruelty, according to Cecil County District Court records.

Free on a $5,000 bond, Lilly is scheduled to stand trial on June 3, court records show.

EPD officers rushed to the Loran Court residence about 3 p.m. on Friday after receiving a complaint for a “domestic altercation involving a knife,” police said. Officers spoke with the boyfriend, who was standing in the street in front of the residence, police added.

“He stated his girlfriend chased him with a knife and stabbed his dog. When asked, (the boyfriend) said she stabbed his dog because she was mad at him (the boyfriend). He said Lilly was chasing him and the dog and called for the dog to come back. When it came back to her, she stabbed it with their kitchen butcher knife,” court records allege.

The boyfriend, who was not injured during the alleged attack, told investigators that a neighbor also had witnessed the incident.

Officers arrested Lilly at the scene, police reported.

Aggravated animal cruelty is punishable by up to three years in prison and a $5,000 fine while animal cruelty carries a maximum 90-day sentence and a $1,000 fine, according to court records, which also indicate that second-degree assault is punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a $2,500 fine.

(Cecil Whig - April 14, 2015)

Toddler critically injured in pit bull attack

MISSOURI -- A St. Charles toddler was critically injured Thursday night when she was attacked by the family dog.

The 22-month-old was attacked by an 80-pound pit bull mix around 6:45 p.m. at her home in the 2000 block of Essex in the St. Charles Hills subdivision.

Police say the little girl's siblings, 5 and 8-years-old, ran to a neighbor's house to get help while their grandmother tried to get the dog off the girl.

A neighbor came over to the home and had to stab it about seven times before it would stop attacking.

The grandmother, who was babysitting the children at the time, lost the tips of several fingers in the attack. The girl's siblings were not injured.

Police say the little girl suffered wounds to her face, neck, chest, and back. She was taken to St. Joseph's Hospital and then airlifted to a St. Louis hospital where she is listed in critical condition. Her name has not been released.

At the request of the family, the dog was euthanized Friday morning.

Police say as far as they know the attacked was unprovoked.

(KSDK - Aug 8, 2014)

Pittsburgh man allegedly decapitates family Chihuahua with machete, faces animal cruelty charges

PENNSYLVANIA -- A Pittsburgh man is facing animal cruelty charges after he allegedly used a machete to decapitate his mother's Chihuahua.

Authorities said they were called to the home Wednesday evening, and Matthew Ondo's parents showed them the remains of the dog, named Izzy, along with a bloody machete and butcher knife.

According to a criminal complaint, Ondo, 30, at first denied killing the dog, then claimed the devil, Allah or "the Mexican" did it.

Ondo's parents told police their son is an unemployed drug addict who has emotional problems.

His mother, Debra Ondo, told police she was playing upstairs with the 14-month-old dog when she heard her son call for Izzy. Her husband later came home and began yelling when he discovered what had happened, according to the complaint.

Ondo is being held at the Allegheny County jail, unable to post $25,000 bond. No attorney was listed on court papers.

A preliminary hearing was scheduled for Feb. 26.

(NY Daily News - February 13, 2014)

Missouri: "I shot him three times and he was still attacking her"

MISSOURI -- A pit bull kills a poodle and bites the poodle's owner. The attack is again raising questions about animal control outside Springfield city limits.

The poodle's owner says two pit bulls from a neighboring house frequently run loose and now after the death of his dog, he's speaking out.

Gary Norman says the pit bull jumped a four-foot fence to get to his dog named Chloe.

"I kinda thought he could get over, but I was shocked at how quick he came over."

He quickly grabbed his dog to run into the house, but the pit bull caught up, attacked Chloe, and then bit Norman.

"Bit me under the arm and got me on the end of the finger," he recounts. "Took her over there and was killing her and I ran inside and got a butcher knife."

He stabbed the pit bull with a knife. Gary says the pit bull didn't seem to notice.

"By that time, my wife had got there with the gun and I shot him three times and he was still attacking her."

Now he's fighting back.

"You should feel safe. There's no reason why your little friend, your dog, should get killed."

Gary's household is one of 23,000 outside Springfield city limits that has limited resources for animal control. The Springfield-Greene County Health Department had to make budget cuts in 2012 and animal control took a bit hit.

The Greene County Sheriff's Office now has two animal control responders covering the entire area outside the county.

"We've only had three calls for the year and it's hit or miss," says Bob Dante, animal control responder. "There's no set pattern, so it could become a burden."

After losing his dog, Norman says he wants to make sure it doesn't happen to someone else.

"A human life and the life of other little dogs that are innocent like that shouldn't be jeopardized by people keeping those dogs."

The Greene County Sheriff's Office will only respond to animal bites and vicious dogs.

Chloe and the pit bull didn't survive. Norman found out Thursday the dog didn't have rabies, but he is still filing charges against the pit bull owner.

(Ozarks First - May 10, 2012)

Illinois: Stewart Gibbs, 44, got drunk, naked and then tried to "do surgery" on his dog

ILLINOIS -- Alerted by reports of a naked man covered in blood, police rushed to a Near West Side apartment and found a "highly intoxicated" man who had been operating on his pet Doberman, Foley, officials say.

Stewart Gibbs, 44, was charged with felony cruelty to an animal late Sunday after he told police he had tried to remove a cyst from under the dog's right ear, police said. Bail of $75,000 was set for Gibbs, who is a health care administrator, his attorney said.

Gibbs' landlord got a call from other tenants in the building who said water was leaking into their apartments from the ceiling, said Assistant State's Cook County Attorney Lorraine Scaduto.

The landlord knocked on Gibbs' door, received no response and let himself in, police said. Gibbs ran toward him, naked and covered in blood, Scaduto said. The landlord also saw a blood-soaked towel in the apartment before he left to call police.

Officers arrived about 10 p.m. and were met at the door by Gibbs, whose hands were covered in blood and who "appeared highly intoxicated," according to a police report.

Gibbs let the officers in, and they found blood on the floor and walls of the hall, kitchen, bathroom and bedroom. They also found the Doberman with a wound under its right ear, police said.

Gibbs told the officers he had been using a butcher knife to remove a cyst from under the dog's ear, and he had turned on the water in the bathtub to clean up the dog, according to police and prosecutors.

Gibbs told officers he had been drinking at Trump Tower earlier in the evening, returned to his apartment, had a half-bottle of wine and "proceeded to perform surgery" on his dog, according to a police report.

Gibbs did not claim to be a veterinarian but told officers he was a cardiologist, police Officer John Mirabelli said. There is no state license information on Gibbs being a physician.

Foley was taken to an emergency veterinary center for treatment, authorities said.

Gibbs gave up custody of the dog, and the Doberman is now in the care of Chicago Animal Care and Control, officials said.

Public Defender Anand Sundaram said Gibbs has been in Chicago five years, is a health care administrator and has a degree from the University of California at Irvine.

(Chicago Tribune - June 20, 2011)