Beat dog with sledgehammer
Minneapolis, MN (US)Incident Date: Saturday, Dec 16, 2000
County: Hennepin
Disposition: Alleged
Alleged:
» male
» Jeffrey John Seivert - Convicted
On December 17, a 2-year-old German Shepherd/Husky came home with a cut paw. A woman who had been temporarily caring for the dog telephoned the dog's owner, telling him the dog was hurt. The owner sent a family member to deal with it.
This family member decided that the best solution was to kill the dog, so he took the dog into the garage and started beating it in the head with a sledgehammer.
He told Inver Grove Heights police, "I took it upon myself because my father-in-law's been talking about bringing it to the humane society to have the dog put away...I just figured, hey, this is the cheapest way out."
When the woman heard what was happening, she rushed out to try to stop him, but she was unable. She then ran to her next-door neighbor, Mr. Christoffel, to get his help.
Mr. Christoffel ran to the scene and yelled at the man, but the man threatened Mr. Christoffel with the sledgehammer.
The police were called, and in the meantime, Mr. Christoffel ran home, grabbed a .22 calibre rifle and returned to the garage, telling the man, "You want to play games? We'll play games."
While authorities had originally intended to prosecute Mr. Christoffel (yes, the good guy) under felony charges of "making terroristic threats", the prosecution has since stepped it down to "reckless use of a firearm."
Mr. Christoffel's attorney Larry Levinthal said, "Sometimes, the law seems perverted... One is facing time in prison for trying to protect the life of a friend. And one receives no more than a traffic ticket for this killing."
References
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