Friday, May 21, 2004
3 Roanoke men charged in dogfight have day in court, with different results
One man's charges are headed to circuit court, charges against another were dismissed, and a third pleaded guilty.
tad.dickens@roanoke.com 981-3236
Animal control officers responding to a call about a dogfight got a clear indication that something was up as soon as they arrived.
About 15 people began streaming out of a garage in the 700 block of Centre Avenue Northwest on March 25, officers testified Thursday in General District Court.
Inside the garage, officers found a man standing with a pit bull terrier tied to a stud in the floor. The dog had bad cuts to the head and ears. A rug in the garage was covered in fresh blood, two officers testified. Two "bite sticks," used to pry apart dogs, were on the floor.
"He told us that it was his dog and they'd only been fighting for a little bit," Animal Control Officer Keith Roberts testified.
Police arrested Bryan Lamont Simmons, 34, of the 700 block of Crystal Drive, Salem, on a charge of aiding and abetting a dogfight. After hearing the evidence against Simmons, Judge Jacqueline Talevi found probable cause to send the charge to circuit court for a grand jury's consideration.
Outside the garage, officers found two chain link pens. Two pit bulls - one suffering head wounds and covered with blood, the other healthy and aggressive - were in one pen. A young, healthy pit bull was in the other, Roberts testified.
Ronald Shepherd, who owns the house and garage, came outside, asking police what was going on, according to testimony. He told officers that he hadn't seen or heard anything about a dogfight, but he knew there was a party going on, Roberts said.
Police charged Shepherd, 46, with organizing a dogfight. But his attorney, Assistant Public Defender Tom Love, said there was no evidence to contradict Shepherd's contention that he knew nothing about what was going on in his garage. Talevi agreed and dismissed the felony charge.
A third man, Jeffrey Lynn Greenhowe, 26, of the 2200 block of Montauk Road Northwest, pleaded guilty to attending a dogfight. As part of a plea agreement, he was fined $150, said his attorney, James Cargill. Greenhowe would have testified that he had just arrived when police showed up, but took the plea agreement rather than risk a maximum 12-month sentence and $2,500 fine, Cargill said.
