By Greg Kocher
A Lexington police officer
faces an internal investigation and might be charged later this week with
animal cruelty, authorities said Tuesday.
The Scott County Sheriff's
Office said deputies had asked the Scott County Attorney's Office to review the
case, in which officer Jeff Brangers shot and killed a neighbor's black
Labrador Saturday as it walked away from his property. Brangers, a Scott County
resident, keeps chickens on his property about five miles east of Georgetown.
Scott County Sheriff Tony
Hampton said Tuesday that Brangers might be charged with second-degree animal
cruelty later this week.
Conflicting statements
attributed to Brangers caused the sheriff's office and the county attorney's
office to consider filing a charge, Hampton said.
State law says, "Any
livestock owner or his agent, without liability, may kill any dog trespassing
on that owner's property and observed in the act of pursuing or wounding his
livestock."
Brangers initially told a
sheriff's deputy that the dog was in a crouched position and looking at his
chickens. But he later said that he shot the dog as it was walking away.
In that instance, if the
chickens were not being pursued or wounded, Brangers would not have been within
his rights to shoot the dog.
"When the dog's walking
away, that changes that," Hampton said.
Dog owner Brian Geary must sign
a complaint, which must also be signed by a judge. Once that is done, Brangers
would be served a court summons to appear in Scott District Court, Hampton
said.
Geary said Tuesday that he
intends to press charges. Second-degree animal cruelty is a misdemeanor punishable
by up to a year in jail and a $500 fine.
Also Tuesday, the Lexington
Division of Police said it has started an internal inquiry into the dog's
shooting.
Lexington police spokeswoman
Sherelle Roberts confirmed the inquiry Tuesday afternoon.
Brangers, 39, joined the
Lexington police force in 2012.
Geary, who also raises chickens
on his property, said in an interview on Monday that Angel, a 12-year-old
Labrador, had never bothered poultry in the past. Geary said Brangers told him,
"I have a right as a property owner to protect my property from threats,
and I perceived her as a threat. ... Your dog was on my property. I eliminated
the threat."
"If he didn't catch her
chasing chickens, he had no grounds to the shoot the dog," Geary said
Monday. "That's my whole premise."
