"Partner" found NOT guilty/reckless for Bandit's death

All the details here:

www.thepetitionsite.com/4/justice-for-bandit

and here:

www.myspace.com/justice4bandit

don't forget to read the "official court report" link posted in an earlier entry

Next Cout date is latter Oct...

so keep the sigs coming please -
pooch smooches

Sheriff acted properly in arresting Sgt. Lovejoy

A BRILIANT letter by Dr. Pat Haight - psychologist and paralegal that works in the animal welfare community:

Sgt. Lovejoy's wife and others also insist that the officer did not intend to hurt Bandit so he should not be charged. The fact that Sgt. Lovejoy did not intentionally leave his dog in the car for hours is not germane to the decision to charge. Under ARS 13.2910, the Arizona cruelty to animals' statute, state of mind is a decisive factor with respect to whether the charge is a felony or a Class 1 misdemeanor.

It is a misconception by some that there must be intent for someone to commit animal cruelty in Arizona. If the evidence shows that a person's reckless (negligent) behavior caused serious harm to an animal, that person will be charged with a Class 1 misdemeanor under the statute."

"Sgt. Lovejoy's wife also publicly has expressed her chagrin that the sheriff would not speak with her on the telephone. It is not appropriate for any member of the investigating body of law enforcement involved in an investigation of any crime to speak to the person charged or his family other than in the course of the investigation. Sgt. Lovejoy's wife should know that. If she wishes to communicate with county officials, the process is to do it through their attorney and with the prosecutor on the case.

Finally, it does not matter if the entire Chandler police force calls in sick on the scheduled arraignment date of Sept. 25, the justice system will work and Sgt. Lovejoy will be arraigned on the charge. "

www.azcentral.com/php-bin/clicktrack/email.php/7368167


don't forget about the petition:

www.thepetitionsite.com/4/justice-for-bandit

Officer pleads not guilty in K-9 death

please comment @ the papers website if you disagree - how can he plead not guilty after he admitted leaving him in the car?
his wife predicted 400 supporters would show up & it would be chaos -
read the prior diary entry incident report
good grief ??

The PETITION:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/4/justice-for-band it

http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/98170

Office r pleads not guilty in K-9 death
Associated Press
A Chandler police officer pleaded not guilty Tuesday morning in the death of his K-9 companion.

Court spokeswoman J.W. Brown said Sgt. Tom Lovejoy came with his family and filed the paperwork for the plea at San Tan Justice Court. A scheduled hearing for Lovejoy was canceled after the plea was received, and several dozen Chandler police officers who came to support their colleague left without comment.

Lovejoy was arrested Sept. 5 after sheriff’s investigators determined that he recklessly caused the death of his partner, a Chandler police K-9.
Bandit, a 5-year-old Belgian Malinois, died Aug. 11 after being left in Lovejoy’s vehicle parked for 13 hours outside his home on a county island near Gilbert.

The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office has jurisdiction in the case and decided to pursue charges against Lovejoy after the Chandler Police Department announced that no criminal investigation was warranted.

Chandler police are conducting an internal investigation to determine if Lovejoy violated any department policies on the day Bandit died.

Lovejoy is scheduled to appear in court for a pre-trial conference on Oct. 24.

Shocking Incident Report on Bandit's Death

horrible just horrible ESP how Lovejoy's wife makes claims how "Tom could've lied, said Bandit run away & buried him in the backyard"

******************* OMGosh****************

Then she tells the Investigating Officer from MCSO that CPD is gonna get "Blue flu" meaning the force will call in sick on his court day 09/25/07

*** WARNING ***
keep reading:

http://www.azcentral.com/news/ChandlerK9.pdf

Bandit's handler arrested on animal cruelty.. please sign- petition

don't for get to sign Bandit's petition - we need as many sig as possible before his handler's court date in a few weeks. please crosspost widely !
pooch smooches

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/4/justice-for-ban dit

UPDATE *******please read

"Sgt. Tom Lovejoy was booked Wednesday at 3 p.m. into an East Valley jail facility on suspicion of animal cruelty, a misdemeanor. He was released at 4:50 p.m. on his own recognizance. >>?

Arpaio said he couldn't get an answer as to why Lovejoy lost track of the canine, but the sergeant's actions did not appear to be intentional. Reckless, yes, but not intentional, Arpaio emphasized.

The Sheriff's Office investigation revealed that Lovejoy was on an off-duty assignment with Bandit about 3 a.m. and returned home about 9:15 a.m. He parked the SUV outside his home in a county island and left Bandit in the vehicle.

Arpaio said Lovejoy and his stepdaughter then departed in a personal vehicle for an errand, during which time he received a call that his stepson was involved in a vehicle crash and needed help retrieving insurance documents. That ordeal took about 40 minutes, Arpaio said.

Throughout the remainder of the day, Lovejoy left the home several times in his personal vehicle and at one point took a nap and then had dinner out with his wife, the investigation showed.

Meanwhile, temperatures outside rose to 115 degrees. Lovejoy did not locate Bandit until after 10 p.m. that night. By that time, the dog was already dead. "

http://www.azcentral.com/community/chandler/articles/090 5cr-dogc harge0906.html

THANK YOU, thank you, thank you !!!!!!

Mama is overwhelmed at the outpouring of sympathy. Thank you so much for the stars & rosettes. We are just without words. MANY TEARS OF JOY are being shed.
Please take time to thank Raven - our 1 friend & 1st person we contacted about Bandit's tragedy. Raven, sadly, knows about extreme grief.
Bless you Raven & all the people that love you. You have a very special Angel looking out for you. Raven is http://www.dogster.com/dogs/38947

Mama will try to answer each of your emails & friend comments.

Mama's 2nd human kid, Colin, turn big 4 yo. today !! When he came home, we had 5 GSDs (4 of ours & 1 rescue foster, Duffee) & 5 rescue adopted kitties.
Colin knows all about love & respect for animals - even at his young age.
Look on Sadie's page - 1 of our Xmas cards were made with Colin & Sadie.

*** PLease don't forget to sign & pass around Bandit's petition (listed below)**
Bandit deserves a PD funeral.

Bless all of you.

beautiful candles started by Raven

http://www.gratefulness.org/candles/candles.cfm?l=eng&gi=Ban di

thanks to all that light a canle


please don't forget about the petition to get a police funeral

Sign the Petition please !!!

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/4/justice-for-bandit

We, the undersigned, request:

1- Bandit be given a full Police funeral complete with motorcade, Phoenix Metro area PD K-9s, pipes & drums.

*Bandit died in the patrol car while still on duty or at least he didn't know differently.

2- Sgt Lovejoy of Chandler P.D. NEVER be permitted to own, partner with or supervise the care or training of ANY/all Police K-9s in the state of Arizona

3- Proper disciplinary actions will prevail once both C.P.D. and MCSO investigations are complete.

We are shocked are the initial passiveness of the CPD. We are disappointed in the "excuses" sent forth from Lovejoy & CPD.

A private ceremony in an INSULT to K9 Bandit. It's not Bandit's fault that HIS PARTNER & FAMILY let him down.

Thank you,

Excuses, excuses.....

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio said his animal cruelty unit received many phone calls from angry residents regarding the incident, and he assured them a speedy investigation. Arpaio has been an outspoken advocate against animal cruelty, but he said he won’t pre-judge the Chandler officer.

“It doesn’t matter if this officer wears a uniform,” Arpaio said. “I’ll treat this case fairly and impartially.”
***********THANK YOU Sheriff Joe !! YEA !!! **************

now the excuses:

Lovejoy’s wife, Carolynn, said Tuesday she does not think her husband should be fired or face criminal charges. But she said her husband has agonized over Bandit’s death and is willing to take responsibility for what happened.

Carolynn said the family kept Bandit with other dogs in an air-conditioned kennel in their backyard. She said her husband heard the dogs barking on Saturday and assumed Bandit was with them.

Her daughter took food to the dogs during the day and did not notice Bandit was missing.

“For some reason it didn’t click with her that Bandit didn’t run up,” she said.

She added that many things happened Saturday that threw the family off its normal rhythm.

She said her husband had worked an extra shift Saturday morning and took Bandit with him.

They returned home together about 9 a.m,, about the time Lovejoy received a phone call about his teenage son being involved in a car crash in which his vehicle was totaled. The son did not receive major injuries.

Chandler police declined to elaborate Tuesday about whether the call came before or after Lovejoy returned home.

Lovejoy discovered Bandit in his police SUV parked outside his house at about 10 p.m.

http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/95152