Cruelty Database » Case Details 
Home
Monitored Cases
Cruelty Database
» Name Search
» Browse Cases
» Local Search
» Local Maps
» Statistics
» Browser Toolbar
» Get Headlines
» RSS
» Submitting Cases
» Sponsors
» Disclaimer
» Database Notes
» Search Help
CourtWatch
Animal Cruelty
Abuse Connection
Prevent Abuse
Cruelty Laws
Animal Adoption
About
Support Us
Newsletter
Search
Case Details
Share:

Case Snapshot
Case ID: 16124
Classification: Shooting
Animal: dog (non pit-bull)
More cases in Lake County, IL
More cases in IL
Animal was offleash or loose
Login to Watch this Case

Attorneys/Judges
Prosecutor(s): Michael Mermel
Defense(s): Sharmila Manak
Judge(s): Daniel Shanes, James Booras


For more information about the Interactive Animal Cruelty Maps, see the map notes.


CONVICTED: Was justice served?

Please vote on whether or not you feel the sentence in this case was appropriate for the crime. (Be sure to read the entire case and sentencing before voting.)

weak sentence = one star
strong sentence = 5 stars

more information on voting

When you vote, you are voting on whether or not the punishment fit the crime, NOT on the severity of the case itself. If you feel the sentence was very weak, you would vote 1 star. If you feel the sentence was very strong, you would vote 5 stars.

Please vote honestly and realistically. These ratings will be used a a tool for many future programs, including a "People’s Choice" of best and worst sentencing, DA and judge "report cards", and more. Try to resist the temptation to vote 1 star on every case, even if you feel that 100 years in prison isn’t enough.

Case #16124 Rating: 2.1 out of 5



Lost dog shot to death, 6k rifle rounds seized
Grayslake, IL (US)

Incident Date: Tuesday, Jan 26, 2010
County: Lake

Charges: Felony CTA
Disposition: Convicted

Defendant/Suspect: Elvin Dooley

Case Updates: 4 update(s) available

Police are investigating reports that an unidentified man shot and killed a lost dog in an unincorporated area near north suburban Grayslake on January 26, 2010.

A Save-a-Pet employee, who was searching for the animal, told police she spotted the dog in a field while driving in the 24000 block of Townline Road at about 2:20 p.m., according to a release from the Lake County Sheriff's office.

Save-a-Pet is an adoption shelter for dogs and cats that also provides long-term care for animals which are not adopted, according to its website.

The woman, who had been looking for the animal since 6:30 a.m., told police she heard a gunshot and saw a man standing in the window of a home holding what she believed to be a rifle, the release said. The woman then heard two more gunshots and informed the homeowner that he was shooting at her dog, the release said. The man denied shooting anything and the woman called the sheriff's office.

The dog, a chow mix, was found in a pool of blood in a field near the home. The woman took it to a local animal hospital, where it was pronounced dead from a single gunshot wound to the neck.

The sheriff's Criminal Investigations detectives are investigating to see if charges are warranted. Sheriff Mark Curran said in the release, "Like most people, I am a dog lover. Cruelty to animals can sometimes lead to cruelty to people."


Case Updates

Lake County prosecutors on Tuesday dropped the remaining criminal charges against a Grayslake-area man sentenced to prison for shooting a dog.

Lake County Assistant State's Attorney Michael Mermel said he believed the 20-month term imposed on Elvin Dooley "took into account all the facts and circumstances of the charges against him."

Dooley, 57, was convicted in May of aggravated cruelty to animals for shooting a dog outside his home. The dog had run away from the nearby Save A Pet animal shelter.

The manager of the shelter, who was chasing the dog after it had been abandoned in the shelter parking lot, confronted Dooley as he fired a rifle from inside his home in the 24000 block of Townline Road.

In the process of arresting Dooley, sheriff's police confiscated 17 weapons from him and discovered he did not have a state Firearm Owner's Identification card.

Dooley was charged with unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon after police discovered he had been convicted of burglary in Alabama in 1978, as well as the state registration violation.

Mermel told Circuit Judge James Booras he believed the 20-month sentence imposed on the animal cruelty charge was sufficient punishment for all the offenses.

"We believe the court took into consideration the danger the defendant and his arsenal posed to the public in imposing the 20-month prison sentence," Mermel said. "Based on that, the state will not proceed on those other matters."

Assistant Public Defender Sharmila Manak asked Booras to reconsider the prison sentence handed down in the animal cruelty case.

"Every day, people who do harm to other people are given probation," Manak said.

Booras said he believed the sentence he had imposed was reasonable and just and said it would stand.

Manak then asked for a two-week furlough for her client, saying he wanted to get his belongings out of his house before a foreclosure order is issued on the property.

Dooley, who has been in custody since his arrest Jan. 26, told Booras he wanted time to move his belongings into storage before heading to prison.

Booras called the request "highly unusual," but granted it when Mermel did not object.

Dooley is scheduled to surrender to begin serving his prison sentence Sept. 7.
Source: DailyHerald.com - Aug 31, 2010
Update posted on Aug 31, 2010 - 5:32PM 
An unincorporated Grayslake man accused of shooting and killing a stray dog that wandered onto his property has been found guilty of aggravated animal cruelty.

Elvin Dooley, 57, of 24250 W. Townline Road, is accused of shooting the dog hours after it had been dropped off outside the Save-A-Pet animal shelter in January. He will be sentenced June 21. The Class 4 felony carries a prison sentence of up to three years.

Assistant Lake County State's Attorney Raquel Robles-Eschbach said the jury deliberated for nearly eight hours Thursday. Upon returning to the court house Friday morning, it took jurors less than a half hour to find Dooley guilty of aggravated animal cruelty.

However, the jury found Dooley not guilty of the more serious charge of animal torture, a Class 3 felony that upon conviction, carries a prison sentence of two to five years.

Dooley was convicted of shooting a black chow mix that Save-A-Pet staff were attempting to corral on Jan. 26.

The dog, which the shelter posthumously named "Justice," had been running loose since at least 6:30 a.m. that morning after being dropped off outside the shelter by an unknown pet owner. Two Round Lake area public works employees had also
spotted the dog running loose and tried to capture it to keep it safe from an approaching coyote.

The shelter employees kept up their search for most of the day until spotting the dog at about 2:20 p.m. on a residential property in the area of 24000 Townline Road. One of the employees told sheriff's deputies that she heard a gunshot and stopped her vehicle. The employee noticed a man standing in the window of a home with what she believed to be a rifle.

After hearing two more gunshots, the employee approached the home and made contact with the owner, telling him that he was shooting at her dog. The owner denied shooting anything and the employee called the sheriff¹s office.

The dog was located in a field near the house with a pool of blood around it, reported sheriff's police. The shelter employee took the dog to a local animal hospital where it was pronounced dead by a veterinarian due to a single gunshot wound to the neck.

Though Dooley was found not guilty of animal torture, Robles-Eschbach said the jury's verdict of guilty on the lesser charge of animal cruelty still carries a strong message to the public that people who abuse animals will be prosecuted.

"We're happy just with the outcome alone. We took this very seriously. We put in a lot of hard work and dedication. It meant a lot to Save-A-Pet and it meant a lot to us too," sad Robles-Eschbach.

Save-A-Pet, which just rescued two badly beaten dogs from a Round Lake Heights residence and saved a severely injured dog that was dumped at the shelter last month, said incidents like these epitomize the important work they do.

"We thank everyone for their support of Save-A-Pet and our commitment to seeing 'Justice' prevail. We have successfully sent a message to the justice system and the Chicagoland area at-large that animal cruelty will not be tolerated in our community. Your voices were heard, and ensured Justice did not die in vain."

Dooley still faces charges of unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon, which is up for a status hearing June 21, the day of his sentencing for the animal cruelty conviction, and possession of a firearm without a Firearm Owner's Identification card.

Dooley, who was convicted of felony burglary in Alabama in 1978, allegedly stashed weapons at a friend's home after shooting the stray dog. Trials for these charges are expected to commence July 16.
Source: Grayslake Review - May 15, 2010
Update posted on May 16, 2010 - 2:15PM 
The case against a Grayslake-area man charged with shooting a stray dog to death suffered a setback Monday when a judge ruled prosecutors can't bring 18 firearms into court so a witness can testify which one she reportedly saw the defendant fire.

Lake County Associate Judge Theodore Potkonjak also decided to separate a weapons possession charge against Elvin Dooley, 57, from the animal cruelty and animal torture charges he faces following the Jan. 26 incident.

The felony weapons possession charge will be combined with an unlawful use of a weapon by a felon charge that's set to be tried separately from the animal cruelty case.

Assistant State's Attorney Michael Mermel said he plans to appeal Potkonjak's decision by filing a certificate of impairment with the state appellate court.

The animal cruelty case is on hold until the appellate court rules. The weapons case is set to continue May 7.

Dooley, of the 24000 block of Townline Road, is accused of shooting a small dog that had been dropped off at the Save-A-Pet No Kill Adoption Center near his home. The dog ran off before employees could coax it inside, and a staff member told police she saw Dooley fire a rifle at the animal from a window of his house.

The dog died from a single gunshot wound to its neck.

Police later recovered 18 weapons and thousands of rounds of ammunition.

Dooley, being held at the Lake County jail, attended the hearing in the traditional dark-blue jail garb and stood silent throughout the proceedings.

Defense attorneys Sharmila Manak and LaTonya Burton of the public defender's office represented Dooley. Manak successfully argued the weapons case should be separated from the animal cruelty case.

In court Monday, Mermel admitted his office doesn't know which weapon was used to kill the dog. A ballistics test can't be conducted, Mermel said, because the bullet that killed the dog wasn't recovered.

Mermel said he wanted a witness to pick the rifle she saw out of the selection of guns authorities seized in the case, a concept Potkonjak rejected.

Prosecutors can't bring all the weapons into the courtroom, Potkonjak said, because it is prejudicial against Dooley.

Mermel protested but Potkonjak shut him down, telling him not to make a speech.
Source: Daily Herald - Apr 5, 2010
Update posted on Apr 5, 2010 - 3:01PM 
The Grayslake-area man accused of shooting a dog outside his home was ordered held on $400,000 bond.

Elvin Dooley, 57, also must surrender the 21 firearms and thousands of rounds of ammunition that police confiscated when they arrested him for the crime.

The dog, a black chow mix, was abandoned in the parking lot of the Save-A-Pet No-Kill Adoption Center sometime on Tuesday, Lake County Assistant State's Attorney Marc Bangser said.

But before center employees could coax the dog inside, Bangser said, it ran off, with manager Dana Deutsch in pursuit.

Deutsch told police she was behind the dog in her car as it ran through a field near Townline and Fairfield roads when she heard a gunshot.

Police said Deutsch looked over at Dooley's house in the 24000 block of Townline Road and saw a man holding a rifle with a scope mounted on it and aiming at the dog from a window.

Deutsch told police she heard two more shots as she ran to the house and confronted the man she later identified as Dooley.

Dooley retreated into the house, police said, and Deutsch took the dog to the Animal Emergency and Treatment Center in Grayslake with the help of some Round Lake public works employees who happened onto the scene.

Bangser said the dog died of a bullet wound that passed through its neck.

Sheriff's police went to Dooley's house and arrested him Friday on a felony charge of aggravated cruelty to animals.

Bangser said there were several shell casings found inside the house, and police seized 6,000 rounds of rifle ammunition and a large quantity of handgun ammunition from the basement and detached garage.

Dooley also led police to a friend's house where they found 19 rifles, one of which was loaded, and two handguns that Dooley said were his, Bangser said.

Dooley served a prison term for a 1974 burglary conviction in Alabama, Bangser said, and was also imprisoned in West Virginia for burglary in 1996.

Additional charges of unlawful use of a weapon by a felon, unlawful possession of ammunition by a felon and possession of a weapon without a state Firearms Owner's Identification card were filed against Dooley.

Bangser said Dooley initially denied he had been shooting when questioned by police, then said he had been shooting at some cans and was unaware he had hit a dog.

The 6-foot-5-inch, 260-pound Dooley limped into bond court Saturday from the jail holding area and told Associate Judge Daniel Shanes he suffers from severe diabetic neuropathy.

Dooley told Shanes he works part time at a hardware store but expects to be unemployed soon.

"From what I have heard about the publicity, I doubt they will want me back," Dooley said.

Shanes appointed the Lake County public defender's office to represent him and scheduled a preliminary hearing for Feb. 18, 2010.

Shanes also set a hearing for a review of Dooley's bond, which requires him to post $40,000 in cash to be released, for Feb. 4, 2010.

Bangser said additional charges could be filed after a review of the case by a grand jury.
Source: Daily Herald News - January 30, 2010
Update posted on Feb 1, 2010 - 1:13PM 

References


« More cases in Lake County, IL

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.



Send this page to a friend
Contact Pet-Abuse.Com
PO Box 5, Southfields, NY 10975
888-523-PETS (888-523-7387)
© Copyright 2001-2012 Pet-Abuse.Com. All rights reserved. Site Map ¤ Disclaimer ¤ Privacy Policy