Police dog’s death is a factor in seven-year burglary sentence
February 6th, 2009 | by admin |Police dog’s death is a factor in seven-year burglary sentence
Police Dog Dio, a Belgian Malinois, was killed in a fall
The death of a police dog in 2007 contributed to a seven-year burglary sentence given Thursday to a Kansas City man.
Prosecutors did not charge Derrick L. Toombs, 45, with killing Dio, a Belgian Malinois trained to search for people and narcotics. But because Dio died answering a report of copper thefts from a three-story commercial building, Toombs bore some responsibility for the dog’s fall from the roof into a parking lot below, the judge said.
“To the extent that the dog was in the building, that is part of the consequence of your actions,” said Jackson County Circuit Judge Sandra C. Midkiff.
Officer Ronald Jenkins, a Police Department dog handler, said he still missed Dio. Jenkins had planned to retire from the department about the same time Dio would have ended his service.
Since Dio’s death, Jenkins has received more than 50 letters of condolence from children and others. He also has received a portrait of the animal from a painter in Idaho who memorializes working dogs who die in the line of duty.
“I only ask you to consider the consequences of his actions in the death of my dog,” Jenkins told the judge.
Arguing for a two-year sentence, defense lawyer Cynthia Dodge noted that Dio went to the roof of the building alone and that the circumstances of his death remained unclear. Authorities found no dog hair on Toombs’ clothing, she noted.
“He did not kill Dio,” Dodge said. “He’s not been charged with killing Dio. We don’t know why Dio fell off that roof.”
To reach Mark Morris, call 816-234-4310 or send e-mail to mmorris@kcstar.com.
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