Police dog shot and killed - Albemarle, VA

Sunday, Oct 24, 2004

County: Albemarle

Disposition: Convicted

Defendant/Suspect: Robert Lee Cooke

Case Updates: 1 update(s) available

An Albemarle County police officer is on paid administrative leave after a shooting early Sunday morning that left a 30-year-old Chesterfield man in critical condition.

Officer Andy Gluba responded to a house burglary on Reservoir Road around 1:30 a.m. Ten minutes later Gluba called for backup after shots were fired by the burglary suspect, Robert Lee Cooke.

During a foot chase Cooke was shot near the intersection of Reservoir Road and Fontaine Avenue. He was in critical condition at the University of Virginia Medical Center, according to Albemarle County spokeswoman Lee Catlin.

Gluba's German shepherd, Ingo, was shot by the suspect, police said. Ingo died later on Sunday.

Police said Ingo was "instrumental" in the capture of convicted rapist Timothy Eads following his escape from the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail in 2001.

County Police Chief John Miller declined to discuss the shootings, saying: "The criminal investigation is being done by the Virginia State Police and I really can't comment on their investigation."

According to arrest warrants, Cooke has been charged with two felonies: shooting a police K-9 and possession of a firearm after being convicted of a felony.

Gluba is on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of an internal investigation into the shooting, according to police. He could not be reached for comment Sunday.

Gluba, who is a K-9 officer, has been with the Albemarle County Police Department for about 12 years.

In 2000, a judge threw out a charge of cruelty to animals against Gluba on the grounds that he was not properly read his Miranda rights.

Gluba had been charged with cruelty to animals following an incident in which a dog belonging to Gluba's neighbors was shot and killed. John W. Sperry III and Victoria Sperry alleged that Gluba shot their Labrador mix, Astro, in the head after it wandered near Gluba's property line.

Linda Jones, Gluba's lawyer at the time, said then that the prosecution had no evidence against her client.

Case Updates

A man who shot a police dog during a burglary has been sentenced to 10 years in prison. Robert Lee Cooke was found guilty in April of maliciously wounding of a police dog over the shooting that fatally injured the German shepherd, Igno. He also was convicted for a firearms violation. Cooke was left paralyzed from the waist down after exchanging gunfire in October 2004 with officer Andy Gluba, who was Igno's handler. "I do feel like I've been punished already," Cooke said Tuesday during his sentencing. "I lost half my body. My life and attitude is forever changed." His lawyers said they planned to appeal the sentence. Five of the 10 years was shooting the dog and the rest was for the firearms violation. Cooke also was ordered to pay $5,000 in restitution. Ingo had to be put down after being shot, and Gluba told the court his children had to undergo counseling after the dog's death. "We were a well-known, intimate team and he was taken away from me that night," Gluba said. "It basically turned my world upside down."

Source: CNN - June 14, 2006 Update posted on Jun 14, 2006 - 2:25PM

References

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