Dog shot to death during domestic dispute
Las Vegas, NV (US)

Incident Date: Monday, Apr 25, 2011
County: Clark

Disposition: Alleged

Alleged: Julio Angel Romero

The man arrested Monday night after a six-hour standoff with police has tried to strangle his ex-girlfriend and then shot her 8-year-old dog, according to an arrest report released by Las Vegas Metro police.

Police said that on Sunday, Julio Angel Romero, 36, approached his ex-girlfriend, Ashlee Hoopes, while she was at a park with their 4-year-old daughter and a friend of Hoopes.

Romero said to Hoopes, "You thought you could keep my kids from me (expletive)," and grabbed her by her neck, police said. While he was strangling her, he broke her necklace and bruised her neck, police said.

He also took her phone from her, police said. Witnesses in the park stopped Romero's attack on Hoopes, police said.

After Hoopes left the park with her daughter and returned to her home, she called police. While waiting for officers to arrive, Romero crashed his car into Hoopes' car, police said.

Police said several hours later, Hoopes received a text from Romero that read "That's it I'm going to get rid of the (dog)." He then texted her a photo of her dog, Dallas, lying dead in a pool of blood, police said.

Hoopes then called police and reported that Romero had killed her dog, the report said.

About three hours later, Hoopes told police that she heard several gunshots outside her apartment. She didn't see who fired the shots, but officers found several 9 mm casings and additional damage to her car, police said.

When police arrived at the house Romero and Hoopes once shared, they found his car that had fresh damage to it that matched the damage to Hoopes' car.

After gaining access to the house through a search warrant, they discovered that Romero wasn't there.

He was later found in Henderson and arrested. Romero then showed officers where he had hidden an assault rifle.

He was arrested on charges of animal cruelty, battery by domestic violence and strangulation and strong arm robbery.

References

• « Back to Search Results
  
  « More cases in Clark County, NV

  Note: Classifications and other fields should not be used to determine what specific charges the suspect is facing or was convicted of - they are for research and statistical purposes only. The case report and subsequent updates outline the specific charges. Charges referenced in the original case report may be modified throughout the course of the investigation or trial, so case updates, when available, should always be considered the most accurate reflection of charges.
  
  For more information regarding classifications and usage of this database, please visit the database notes and disclaimer.