Two Wisconsin landlords who admitted stealing one of their tenant’s dogs following a rental dispute will not face any jail time, even though the dog remains missing a year after court proceedings began.
On Halloween 2022, Susan Haas, 64, and her sister Sarah Engeseth, 62, took Linnea Sandlin’s rat terrier named Simon after the owners claimed the dog violated the terms of the property’s lease. property.
The sisters, both convicted of the misdemeanor charge of intentional dognapping, party to a crime, were ordered by Dane County Judge Ellen Berz to participate in a first offender program as part of a plea agreement, instead of going to prison.
“Simon, he was like my son,” Sandlin told the Dane County court, according to WKOW. “I miss him and love him very much. He can never be replaced.”
Haas and Engeseth took possession of the dog after they showed up at the workplace of John Isaacson, who was dog-sitting for Sandlin while she looked for a better place for the dog to stay because she knew the dog was not allowed in your rental property.
Simon, a rat terrier, was seized by his owners from his owner on October 31, 2022, following a dispute over the dog violating the terms of the lease.
Isaacson said the woman showed him a letter from a lawyer stating that they had the authority to take the dog to a shelter, which he reluctantly complied with and turned over to Simon, a decision he says he has regretted ever since.
“He left because of me,” Isaacson told the outlet in February. “I didn’t fight for him. I did what I thought he should have done when they showed me the role.”
After taking control of the dog, Haas says he was going to turn him over to the local Dane County Humane Society, but Simon jumped out of the back of his truck while it was parked outside the facility and ran away.
Susan Haas claims she was delivering Simon to the Dane County Humane Society when the dog jumped out of the back of her truck and ran away. Dane County Jail
Haas claimed in court that he made no effort to look for the dog after it ran away.
The Dane County District Attorney’s Office charged Haas and Engelseth with felony charges stemming from a robbery in December, but a month later, on Jan. 30, Deputy District Attorney Paul Humphrey announced the charges would be reduced to felonies. minors, court documents show.
“It is common for first offenders who have taken responsibility for the crime to be given the opportunity to defer prosecution,” Humphrey said, defending the decision.
Sarah Engeseth and her sister, Susan, were found guilty of the misdemeanor charge of intentional kidnapping of a dog, party to a crime. Dane County Jail
“I feel like the punishment against them is wrong,” said dog handler Sandlin. “It went from a felony to a misdemeanor and now it will probably be nothing 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: vtt.edu.vn