Two Wisconsin landlords who admitted to stealing one of their tenants’ dogs following a lease dispute will not face any jail time even though the dog is still missing a year after court proceedings began.
On Halloween 2022, Susan Haas, 64, and her sister Sarah Engeseth, 62, adopted Linnea Sandlin’s rat terrier named Simon, after the landlord claimed the dog violated the terms of the property’s lease.
The sisters, both found guilty of Intentional Dognapping, Party to a Crime, were ordered to participate in a first offender program by Dane County Judge Ellen Berz as part of a plea deal, in lieu of prison time.
“Simon, he’s like my son,” Sandlin told the Dane County courthouse, according to WKOW. “I miss him and love him very much. He cannot be replaced.”
Haas and Engeseth obtained the dog after they showed up at the workplace of John Isaacson, who was dog-sitting for Sandlin while he looked for a better place for the dog to live because he realized the dog was not allowed in his rental home.
Simon, a rat terrier, was picked up by his owner’s landlord on Oct. 31. 2022, following a dispute about the dog violating the terms of the lease.WKOW
Isaacson said the woman showed him a lawyer’s letter claiming they had the authority to take the dog to the shelter, which he reluctantly complied with and surrendered Simon, a decision he said he has since regretted.
“He left because of me,” Isaacson told the outlet in February. “I did not fight for him. I did what I thought I should have done when they showed me the paper.”
After controlling the dog, Haas said he was going to turn it over to the local Dane County Humane Society but Simon instead jumped out of the back of his SUV while it was parked outside the facility and ran away.
Susan Haas claims she turned Simon over to the Dane County Humane Society when the dog jumped out of the back of her SUV and ran away. Dane County Jail
Haas claimed in court that he made no effort to find the dog after it ran away.
The Dane County District Attorney’s Office charged both Haas and Engelseth with criminal conspiracy for theft in December, but a month later on Jan. 30, Assistant District Attorney Paul Humphrey announced the charges would be reduced to misdemeanors, court documents show.
“It is customary for first offenders who have taken responsibility for the crime to have the opportunity for a deferred prosecution,” Humphrey said, defending the decision.
Sarah Engeseth and her sister, Susan, were both found guilty of Intentional Dognapping, Party to a Crime. Dane County Jail
“I think the punishment for them is wrong,” said dog handler Sandlin. “It went from a felony to a misdemeanor and now it probably won’t be anything in the end.”
“I often wonder where the justice is in this,” Sandlin said. “I will always be the victim.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
