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| Jonathan Flood and Melissa Chester |
Two Kennett residents are each facing three felony charges following an incident involving animal abuse on Tuesday, Oct. 20.
Jonathan Flood, 23, and Melissa Chester, age unknown, are each facing a Class C felony of burglary in the second degree, a Class D felony of stealing animals, and a Class D felony of animal abuse after an investigation by the Kennett Police Department (KPD) and Kennett Animal Control (KAC).
According to a Probable Cause Affidavit by KPD officer Alan Campbell, on Tuesday, he was approached by a neighbor of Flood's who was carrying a small puppy.
The neighbor said she had observed a pit bull terrier attacking one of two small puppies, and one of them was near death, according to Campbell. The neighbor said she got the other puppy out of the yard and out of harm's way.
Campbell said he then contacted KAC officer Tina Petix to file a report. When Petix arrived at the scene, she, along with the neighbor and Campbell, attempted to contact the residents where the incident took place, but were unsuccessful.
In his report, Campbell said that while they were there, they saw two pit bull terriers and a small black puppy. Campbell said the puppy was bleeding "profusely" from the throat and was shaking uncontrollably, unable to move or walk.
"The puppy's throat had been crushed by the pit bull terrier, a typical form of the pit bull breed," Campbell said in the affidavit.
The officers took possession of the injured puppy and Petix informed Campbell that the puppy was one that had been stolen from the pound earlier that day, Campbell said.
Petix said she had arrived at the pound to find Flood and Chester speaking with another woman and when she approached the three, the woman asked Petix if she could take a dog that she had, Campbell reported. Petix told the woman that she could not take the dog since she lived in the county and the dog was not in the city limits of Kennett.
Campbell said Petix then went back to her truck to do some paperwork and while she was gone, the woman gave her dog to Flood and Chester, who left the pound immediately afterward.
Flood and Chester then returned to the pound, asking Petix if she could take a small black puppy they "found" in the county, Campbell said. Again, Petix said she could not take the puppy because it was not from inside the city limits.
After Flood and Chester left the second time, Petix entered the pound and discovered that a small black and brown puppy that was in the secure part of the pound was missing, Campbell said.
Also in the yard was the small black puppy that Flood and Chester had tried to give Petix earlier that day, according to Campbell.
Campbell said Flood and Chester, advising them to come to the police station. Upon arrival, both individuals were advised of their rights and were charged.
According to Dunklin County Prosecuting Attorney Stephen Sokoloff, Flood and Chester appeared in court on Friday, Oct. 23, and a preliminary hearing was scheduled for Nov. 13, 2009.
Sokoloff said the Class C felony could carry a punishment of 2-7 years in prison and the Class D felonies could carry a punishment of up to four years in prison per felony.
Flood is currently being held on a $50,000 cash only bond. Chester is being held on a $30,000 cash only bond.
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This article is so confusing! Does the editor proofread these things?
It's confusing because it's too long, just filler for a dull news day?
What a cute couple.lol
Why would they get charged if they had tried to give he pup to Petix.
I don't think I understand which puppy was attacked. Why did the two steal a puppy from the pound when they already had a puppy that they wanted to turn in to the pound?
Did they get the puppy for bait?
Kennett has certainly had its problems with dog pounds, if I remember right. Wasn't there something last year about a pit full of dead dogs? Or was that at a vet's office?
lol smitty!! yup those are a "couple" of real winners
ok, there were (3) dogs involved. a big dog, a black puppy, and a black and brown puppy.
early that day, petix left the pound and returned a few minutes later to find (2) cars at the pound, a woman was driving a car and the couple was driving the other car.
the couple had been there before the woman came and they had already stolen the black and brown puppy from the pound and had it in their vehicle.
the woman had a large dog that she had in the county and tried to get petix to take it but it was a county dog and she couldn't.
petix went to her truck for a second, and the couple then told the woman they were animal control officers also and that they would take the big dog. so, the woman gave them the dog and left.
then the couple left, but turned around and went back because in addition to the dog they stole from the pound and the dog they got from the woman, they also had a black puppy that they tried to get petix to take, saying they picked it up in the county. she told them she could not take county dogs, so they left.
petix went inside the pound and discovered that the black and brown puppy that was inside the pound had been stolen, and it was there 20 minutes prior to that.
THEN.......
at the couple's house later that day, a neighbor saw two pit bulls in their back yard and they were attacking the black and brown puppy, and so she reached through the fence and got the black puppy to keep them from getting it.
she then saw officer campbell and told him what happened and he called petix, and they went to the house and no one was home, but they saw the black and brown puppy, the one stolen from the pound, laying in the back yard with it's throat crushed and dying.
the puppy the neighbor rescued is the black puppy the couple tried to give petix eariler that day.
the couple dropped the big dog they got from the woman,,,and get this,,,, they dropped the dog off out in the county IN FRONT OF THE WOMAN'S HOUSE THAT GAVE THEM THE DOG!!! talk about america's dumpest criminals!!!! lol!!!
she saw them and complained about the couple saying they were animal control officers dumping dogs out in the county, that's how they found out that this all was tied together with the couple.
hence, they were charged with stealing animals, one from the pound and one from the woman when they misrepresented themselves, and burglary when they entered the pound by forcing the gate open, the gate at the pound, not the main gate.
hope i cleared that up.......
also, the pit bulls in the couple's back yard were confiscated due to the couple being in jail and the animals, other than being illegal inside kennett, had no way to get food or water, so they were taken and are now being cared for. and, for the record, they were not euthanized.
Okay seriously, that was the most confusing article I have ever read in my entire life. I'm still not getting it.
What scum!