Case Report

Summit County officials are to decide today whether to cite an Evergreen man accused of killing a dog by driving 17 miles with the animal tied to his Jeep.

The 1 �-year-old Rottweiler, Misha, belonged to Alex Jaeckel of Evergreen, who last saw it alive looking back at her as the truck left a campsite near Green Mountain Reservoir.

"I saw him pulling out and I just didn't run fast enough," Jaeckel said.

Jaeckel, 48, said she was camping last week with a group that included a man who was a former member of her billiards team.

Jaeckel said she tied the dog to the door of the man's vehicle, thinking the animal would scare off raccoons that raided the camp the night before.

Jaeckel said she had made certain the man knew her pet was affixed to the truck.

"He responded twice when I told him the dog was there, tied to the handle," she said.

The man left the campsite about 3:30 a.m. Friday, Jaeckel said. He didn't stop until he reached a convenience store in Silverthorne, 17 miles away.

The man's cousin and a friend left the camp afterward and followed a trail of blood. They retrieved Misha from a dumpster near the store and returned to the campsite, where they buried the dog.

The man also returned to the camp and said the dog's death was an accident. Jaeckel said the man left for Iowa after the camping trip.

Jaeckel said the man told her that a woman had followed him to town, trying to get his attention.

"Apparently, this woman was behind (him) for a long time on Route 9 and tried to stop him," Jaeckel said.

Jaeckel placed an ad in the Summit Daily News, hoping to hear from the female witness.

A different witness filled out a statement Tuesday, said Lesley Craig of Summit County Animal Control. The agency is working with prosecutors on the case and a decision on whether to file animal cruelty or criminal negligence charges could come today, she said.

Jaeckel said she is seeking charges because "this is about holding him accountable and not about revenge."

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