A former Iowa deputy has pleaded guilty to causing the death of his K-9 partner who was left in a hot police truck for 22 hours on a hot summer day.
Dallas Wingate, previously a sergeant with the Boone County Sheriff’s Department, has pleaded guilty to felony animal neglect resulting in serious injury or death, the Des Moines Register first reported Monday.
As part of a plea deal, prosecutors dropped a felony charge of abusing/injuring/killing/threatening a police dog against Wingate.
On the evening of September 2, 2022, Wingate found the police dog in his care, K-9 Officer Bear, dead in his truck.
The deputy told investigators he had put the dog in the vehicle around 10 p.m. the night before because Bear was barking at a deer, according to documents related to the search warrant.
Wingate, who has been with the department’s K-9 unit for 15 years, said he only remembers locking Bear into the truck after he went out to feed his other dogs around 8 p.m. the next day and didn’t see the dog among them.
Dallas Wingate, a former sergeant with the Boone County Sheriff’s Department in Iowa, pictured with his K-9 partner earlier, has pleaded guilty in the 2022 hot car death of K-9 officer Bear. Dallas Wingate / Facebook Bear died in September 2022, after being left in his handler’s truck for 22 hours without food, water or ventilation. Boone County Sheriff’s Office
The criminal complaint says Wingate failed to provide Bear with food, water and ventilation for 22 hours while the dog was stranded in the truck.
At that time, the sergeant had used the vehicle, with Bear still inside, to drive to a sheriff’s meeting and home in the afternoon, but failed to get the dog out.
The outside temperature that day reached 89 degrees, meaning the truck’s interior temperature was over 100 degrees.
Wingate, who resigned from the team just days after the incident, initially faced criminal charges. Boone County Sheriff’s Office A box containing Bear’s body and a memorial with his footprints are seen at the sheriff’s department. KCCI
Wingate was placed on administrative leave after Bear’s death, and he resigned just days later.
Boone County Sheriff Andy Godzicki welcomed the plea deal, telling station KCCI that it would provide closure for members of his department.
“I’m thankful that there was a verdict for this and that there was justice for the dog to die,” Godzicki said.
The charge against Wingate carries a maximum sentence of two years in prison and a fine of more than $8,500, but the plea agreement recommended 18 months of probation and an $855 fine.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
