Attorneys/Judges
| Prosecutor(s): | Larry Allen | | Defense(s): | Jeffrey Cunan | | Judge(s): | John Kennelly |
5 cows, one dog hit with vehicle
Pike City, CA (US)Incident Date: Sunday, Jun 19, 2011
County: Sierra
Disposition: Convicted
Defendant/Suspect: Justin Philip Lombardobarton
Case Updates: 2 update(s) available
A Camptonville man was arrested in connection with a cattle drive hit-and-run, the Sierra County Sheriff's Department said Saturday.
Justin Phillip Lombardobarton, 19, was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, vandalism and animal cruelty for allegedly striking five cows, running over a cattle dog named Maggie and threatening to hit several horseback riders last Sunday.
The horseback riders were participating in the annual Reader Ranch Cattle Drive near Henness Pass in Pike City, a town in southwestern Sierra County where Sierra, Nevada and Yuba counties meet near the Middle Fork of the Yuba River.
Participants in the cattle drive and ranch owner John Reader described the attack to The Union newspaper in Grass Valley.
A man in a white Jeep Cherokee drove past the cattle, stopped in the middle of the herd and then whipped his steering wheel to the right and gunned it, Reader told The Union.
When riders tried to cut the driver off, he aimed toward them and then twice drove over Maggie, the ranch owner's best cattle dog who was trotting behind the cows.
Maggie sustained a severed leg and internal injuries, with vet bills totaling $9,000. Reader was unsure about injuries to the cattle, which dispersed in the high country, but told The Union they may have internal injuries.
The incident was investigated by the California Highway Patrol out of Grass Valley. When investigators determined the attack was deliberate, the Sierra County Sheriff's Department took over and used interviews with people in Alleghany, Pike City, Camptonville, North San Juan and Nevada City before arresting Lombardobarton at 11:30 p.m. Friday at Highway 49 at the Oregon Creek Bridge in Yuba County.
He was booked into Sierra County Jail in Downieville. Bail was set at $100,000.
The white Jeep Cherokee was located, photographed and towed. Additional charges against Lombardobarton may follow.
Case UpdatesA Camptonville man will face as much as one year on jail after pleading no contest to felony animal cruelty and felony hit and run, after he hit cattle and ran over a cattle dog during the annual Reader Ranch cattle drive.
Justin Phillip Lombardo-Barton, 19, had been facing charges of assault with a deadly weapon, vandalism and animal cruelty for striking several cows, running over "Maggie," the cattle dog, and threatening to hit several horseback riders June 19. The incident unfolded during the annual cattle drive by the Reader Ranch, when the ranch's cattle are driven from Pike to the high country.
Lombardo-Barton was driving past the cattle and was almost through the herd when he slowed nearly to a stop, then whipped his steering wheel to the right and gunned it, hitting several cattle. He then gunned his Jeep toward several horseback riders, forcing them to scramble to escape.
Lombardo-Barton next ran over Maggie, the dog, nearly severing her leg and causing severe internal injuries that required more than four hours in surgery.
Rancher John Reader testified at the preliminary hearing that a pilot car with flashing lights and a sign was in front of the herd of about 150 cows and calves, and that his ranch had conducted 48 previous drives without incident. Reader said there were five drovers on horseback behind the cattle and that none were armed.
Lombardo-Barton had claimed during an interview with a Sierra County Sheriff's deputy that he didn't mean to hit the cows and that he drove around the horseback riders to escape, and that he didn't know he had hit the dog until he read about it in the newspaper.
Lombardo-Barton pleaded no contest to the two charges in Sierra County Superior Court Monday, said District Attorney Larry Allen. He faces up to a year in jail, three years probation, and restitution to the victims. His sentencing was set for 10 a.m. Oct. 26.
"I think that's pretty good," said Reader. "I think that's justice."
The community had stepped up to help with Maggie's surgery, with donations exceeding the dog's vet bills.
"She's coming along pretty well," reader said Friday. "She's started back to some light-duty activity. She's going out now with me on some of my chores �" but nothing real strenuous ... We're putting this all behind us." | Source: theunion.com - Sep 17, 2011
Update posted on Sep 18, 2011 - 2:25PM |
Is Justin Phillip Lombardo-Barton a pathological liar who enjoys hurting animals - or did he simply over-react after an unfortunate accident?
His appointed defense attorney, Jeffrey Cunan, posed the diametrically opposed explanations of the 19-year-old's actions at his preliminary hearing in Sierra County Superior Court Friday afternoon.
Lombardo-Barton is facing charges of assault with a deadly weapon, vandalism and animal cruelty for allegedly striking several cows, running over "Maggie," a cattle dog, and threatening to hit several horseback riders June 19.
The incident unfolded during the annual cattle drive by the Reader Ranch, when the ranch's cattle are driven from Pike to the high country.
Lombardo-Barton allegedly was driving past the cattle and was almost through the herd when he slowed nearly to a stop, then whipped his steering wheel to the right and gunned it, hitting several cattle. He then allegedly gunned his Jeep toward several horseback riders, forcing them to scramble to escape.
Lombardo-Barton next allegedly ran over Maggie, the dog, nearly severing her leg and causing severe internal injuries that required more than four hours in surgery.
Outside the courtroom Friday, the teen's mother wiped tears from her eyes as she talked about how hard it was to see her son in shackles.
"He has a good heart," she said. "He loves animals. He would never do something like this."
Rancher John Reader testified that a pilot car with flashing lights and a sign was in front of the herd of about 150 cows and calves, and that his ranch had conducted 48 previous drives without incident. Reader said there were five drovers on horseback behind the cattle and that none were armed.
Sierra County Sheriff's Deputy Nathan Rust testified that he interviewed several of the drovers, who had similar accounts.
Cunan played the recorded interviews that Rust conducted with Lombardo-Barton and with Destiney Figueroa, who was sitting in the rear passenger seat of the Jeep during the incident.
Driver, passenger accounts differ
Lombardo-Barton said that as he drove through the cattle, "one of them, I guess, got his foot under the tire ... I didn't mean to hit a cow."
The teen said that four or five wranglers surrounded him and were shouting obscenities.
"I was scared," he said. "I didn't know what the hell they were going to do."
Lombardo-Barton said he drove around the horseback riders to escape, telling Rust during the interview that he didn't know he had hit the dog until he read about it in the newspaper.
"It was an accident," he said. "I didn't realize it was that big of a deal."
Figueroa, who went to the authorities before Lombardo-Barton surrendered, had a slight different account of the incident.
The girl said the cows "were all over the place" as Lombardo-Barton drove through and that the Jeep's back tire "touched" a cow.
"We were yelling at him to stop, saying, 'You skimmed a cow,'" she said.
She said Lombardo-Barton stopped and she saw a girl yelling and "saw guys grabbing their belts ... I didn't know if they had guns."
Despite her pleas, Lombardo-Barton refused to get out of the Jeep and instead sped up, she said.
"I looked back and saw he had run the dog over," Figueroa said, adding that she again yelled at Lombardo-Barton to stop.
"I said, 'Justin, you hit a dog,'" she said. "He said he didn't even see the dog, he teared up ... He said he didn't know what to do, then he said, 'I'm outta here.'"
Defense: reckless driving not in question
Lombardo-Barton's attorney argued that the teen was guilty of aggravated reckless driving �" but not of assault with a deadly weapon.
"One possibility is this man was gunning for cows, gunning for people, gunning for the dog," Cunan said, suggesting that if that was true, he would seek a not guilty verdict by reason of insanity.
"This would be such an outrageous thing for a human being to do," he said, adding that while the drovers were not lying, there was no actual evidence to suggest "anything so outlandish took place."
Lombardo-Barton overreacted in the face of their anger and the volatile situation, Cunan said.
"There's no question he lied" about not knowing he hit the dog, the attorney conceded, but stressed there was no intent to assault.
Sierra County District Attorney Larry Allen called Lombardo-Barton's statement self-serving and full of blatant lies, asserting the teen drove directly at the horseback riders.
"The conduct itself is so reckless, you don't have to prove intent," he said.
Sierra County Superior Court Judge John Kennelly found sufficient evidence to hold Lombardo-Barton over for trial on all counts and told him that fleeing the scene was the "worst choice you could possibly make."
Kennelly refused to reduce Lombardo-Barton's bail, which remained set at $100,000. He is set for arraignment at 1:30 p.m. Aug. 9. | Source: theunion.com - Jul 23, 2011
Update posted on Jul 23, 2011 - 8:16PM |
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