Asst. Fire Chief Kills Puppy in 'Self-Defense'

Originally uploaded @ http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=90a_1226020374 BY:komakazziNovember 6, 2008RIVERSIDE (KTLA NEWS) -- This is one fence between neighbors that will never be mended.Was the beating of a puppy self-defense, or animal cruelty? Now it's up to the Riverside County Sheriff's Office to try to uncover the truth."I just think he's an evil person. How can any human being just murder a puppy for no reason?" dogowner Shelley Toole says fighting t More..hrough tears.Her family can't sleep. They say Monday, their next-door neighbor, in some kind of violent rage, beat their puppy so badly the dog had to be put down.Karley was a six-month old shepherd mix. What may surprise many people is the fact that the neighbor is Los Angeles County Assistant Fire Chief Glynn Johnson.An online biography lists a stellar 30-year career with the department. It says he's an expert in counter-terrorism, among other areas.But his neighbors of the last ten years have a very different picture of the man. Jeff Toole, Shelley's husband, says he believes Chief Johnson "needs a lot of help."We tried to talk with the public safety official Wednesday night, knocking on his front door repeatedly and calling out for him. But no one answered.He was home because we later discovered he had called police to tell them to make sure we stay off his property.Riverside County investigators tell KTLA the fire chief admits to beating the dog -- but says it was in self-defense because Karley attacked him viciously.The Tooles say Monday evening, Karley got out and went to neighbor Travis Staggs' home. He lives on the other side of Chief Johnson's house.Staggs says he was walking Karley home when Johnson stepped in and said he would take the dog back home.Staggs says he reluctantly handed over the puppy, and that's when it happened in Johnson's front yard.Travis Staggs tells KTLA that Glynn Johnson simply started beating the dog, and that the dog had not attacked Johnson first.According to this witness, Johnson hit the dog repeatedly with a closed fist, put his hands in the puppy's mouth and tried to break its jaws, and eventually beat the dog over the head repeatedly with a large rock from the front yard.Staggs says he tried to stop the attack but couldn't. The Toole family later decided to have Karley put down because of the extent of her injuries."It scares me, knowing I live next-door to this man," says Travis Staggs.The Tooles say they will take civil action against the assistant fire chief regardless of the outcome of the criminal investigation.Riverside County deputies tell KTLA they are conducting more interviews with witnesses in an attempt to determine what really happened in this case. If detectives find enough evidence that the dog beating was unwarranted, they will hand the case over to the district attorney for a possible animal cruelty charge, which is a felony.The Tooles say there is a "history of violence" with Glynn Johnson, and deputies say they are looking into these claims as well."This man needs to go to prison for what he did," says Shelley Toole. She adds, "Karley was my baby, and he took her away from me."
(eltrut96)