By Staff
NILES - The Niles Police Department was called to 517 Maple St., Niles, on Thursday at 3:44 p.m. on a report that someone had shot a dog. Officers arrived to find Cathleen Stevens kneeling over a chocolate Labrador, which was bleeding from the neck. The Lab was about 15 feet from the front door of 517 Maple St., according to police reports.
Stevens said she is the grandmother of the child who lives at 511 Maple St., where the Lab also lives.
Stevens said she was babysitting her grandchild when she heard the gun shot and then found the Lab shot in the neck. According to Stevens, the dog's owner is Todd Lahti, who was not home at the time.
A witness, Richard Sircher, said he heard the gun shot when he was about a half block away and drove to the location where the dog was found, according to reports.
Sircher said he was told the dog had been shot and he yelled to another person standing nearby to call the police.
From the officer's investigation it appears the Lab escaped from its fenced backyard and approached Mr. Pearson's residence at 517 Maple St. It is also reported that the Lab allegedly tried to enter Mr. Pearson's home twice when the front door was opened. On the second attempt to enter, the dog was allegedly shot in the neck by a shotgun round.
Pearson has been charged with Animal Cruelty (4 year felony), Felony Firearms (2 year felony), and Reckless Use of a Firearm (93 day misdemeanor), according to the police report.