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Posted on 10/25/2007 8:03:45 AM PDT by Bean Counter
VANCOUVER -- A transient arrested Tuesday for shooting and killing a Vancouver police dog could go to prison for life under the state's three-strikes law if convicted.
Ronald James Chenette, 38, appeared Wednesday in Clark County Superior Court, accused of harming a police dog and unlawful possession of a firearm in the shooting of Dakota, a 5-year-old German shepherd.
The mood at the Vancouver Police Department's canine unit Wednesday was subdued, but the agency gratefully acknowledged the public outpouring of support. Officer Roger Evans, Dakota's handler, spent the day at home.
"It's been very tough," said Kim Kapp, a police spokeswoman. "There is a close bond between a canine and his handler."
Although harming a police dog is a low-level felony that carries a jail term of as long as a year, use of a firearm in the crime elevates it to what could be Chenette's third strike, Deputy Prosecutor James E. David said.
Chenette has an extensive criminal history dating to 1986, including two previous strike convictions: one for second-degree murder in 1991 and one for second-degree assault in 2000. If he is convicted of killing Dakota with a gun, Chenette could be sent to prison without the possibility of parole.
Judge Roger A. Bennett ordered him held without bail. Chenette will be arraigned Friday in Superior Court.
Chenette also is being held on multiple district court accusations and warrants, including stalking, trespass, harassment and malicious mischief.
Dakota was shot in the head and killed when he was searching for a man who had gone into a wooded area of Brush Prairie, which is south of Battle Ground. About 1:45 p.m., someone called 9-1-1 to report a man with a gun walking along the nearby Lewis and Clark Railroad tracks, and the man was seen fleeing as deputies arrived, Clark County Sheriff's Sgt. Tim Bieber said.
The caller said the man was armed with a .357 magnum handgun and had stated he wanted to "kill a cop," Bieber said.
The Southwest Washington Regional Special Weapons and Tactics Team was called out along with canine units from the Vancouver Police Department and county sheriff's office. Dakota was searching the wooded area when officers heard a shot about 5:10 p.m.
When the dog did not return to Evans, police sent a second dog to search. Akbar, whose handler is Deputy Ed Bylsma, found Chenette at 5:27 p.m. and bit him, as he is trained to do. Chenette resisted but was taken into custody after being shot with a Taser.
Dakota's body was found a short time later.
When David outlined the incident in court, Chenette remarked, "I should have shot the second dog."
As sad as the death of a dog is, Bieber said, they are used in dangerous situations to avoid the death of an officer.
"Dakota probably saved someone's life last night, either the officer's or the suspect's," he said. "These dogs are a tool used for this very reason."
Dakota was born in Slovakia in July 2002 and commissioned in Vancouver three years later. He became a SWAT dog in July 2006 and was responsible for 150 narcotics finds and more than 100 suspect captures.
He was dubbed Dakota after the department sought suggestions from local elementary students and a committee selected the name sent in by a fifth-grade class at Marshall Elementary.
The department's canine unit has three other dogs: Farley, Swift and Kenai.
When this reprobate appeared in court yesterday, he told the judge: "I should have shot the other dog".
As he was escorted out of court, he was hailing Charles Manson.
The questions about this guy are legion.
How did he get a .357? After getting out of prison after 158 months where was his supervision??
At the same time people are relieved that he didn't kill someone before he was finally apprehended, and grateful that the Police were not forced to shoot this a$$hole no matter how richly he deserved it.
Exactly the kind of person three strikes was written for.
I'd imagine he stole it or traded another vagrant crack for it.
On a side note: Treating dogs like people elevates the dog and lowers the status of people. Losing a police dog is no reason to get all weepy in your beer. Buck up and get back to work. A new dog needs to be trained.
That said, I got no problem with the 3 strikes law. This idiot is being punished for killing the dog and all the other nasty crimes he did.
The criminal justice system needs to start being held accountable for people they pour back into the general public -
too bad the police DIDn’t shoot this menace to society and be done with it...no parole from that
This guy should get a noose around his neck, oops can’t say that anymore.
Why give him “life”? Won’t that cost taxpayers over $1 million? A “shanking” only costs a carton of cigarettes.
Be still by bleeding heart. Come on! This guy is textbook for why voters approved three-strikes in the first place!
Hope you didn’t type that comment while at work!
You will probably get fired.
Pure idiocy. The dog doesn't prefer one instrument of harm or death over another, and the dog's future ability to contibrute to society is not influenced by what instrument was used to inflict a given degree of harm on it.
Amen to you,well said.
This sack of scum should get life. And he should be put in a cage with several of Dakota’s buddies.
True, the firearm doesn’t make a difference to the dead dog, but, it is more threatening to the general population (stray bullets, missed shots, all that). If he choked the dog to death it wouldn’t have been potentially life threatening to anyone else in the area.
I take it you don't have a dog.
i have a problem with these officer dogs,i would like to hear just one say the oath.
Given some of the people and many of the dogs I've met, that seems fair to me ;~)
Doggie Ping... followup on the earlier story.
His stated aim was to kill a person. People can be choked to death just as surely as dogs can. The criminal is the threat to the general population.
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