The manager of a Worland, Wyoming, animal shelter has seen a lot of things happen there, but never a puppy heist.
But that changed when Jeffery Clair Weeks, 68, allegedly cut through two dog-kennel fences June 11 to steal a 4-month-old bulldog-mix puppy named Zorro that he’d tried unsuccessfully multiple times to adopt, according to court documents.
“It was scary. We’ve never had anything like this happen before,” Edie Cliame, manager of the New Hope Humane Society, told Cowboy State Daily on Friday. “But the guy was determined to get that puppy.”
Cliame would not let Weeks adopt the pup, despite his multiple attempts. He came into the shelter three times that Monday, then again the next morning. He smelled of alcohol and had already received a bad pet-owner review, she said.
Late that Tuesday afternoon, Weeks came into the shelter and cut through two chain-link kennel fences to release the dog onto the grass, Cliame recalled.
She said she called police, who showed up just in time to rescue the pup and stop Weeks, who was bleeding everywhere from the clipped chain link ends.
‘With His Right Arm Behind His Back’
Washakie County Sheriff’s Deputy Joseph Scheerer was the first to respond to the shelter at about 6:10 that evening, according to an evidentiary affidavit filed in Weeks’ case.
Scheerer arrived at the shelter and saw a grey 2007 Dodge Ram 1500 with a Wyoming license plate parked in the lot, the driver’s door ajar. He walked toward the dog kennel area on the east side of the building and recognized Weeks from a prior contact, the affidavit says.
“Weeks was walking toward me with his right arm behind his back,” Scheerer wrote in the affidavit. He told Weeks to stop and show his hands.
Weeks revealed a pair of chrome pliers in his right hand.
The puppy was wandering outside after the breach, Cliame told Cowboy State Daily. She also wondered aloud whether Weeks also had wire cutters somewhere in addition to the pliers.
Scheerer told Weeks to drop the pliers, and he did, the document says.
Weeks reportedly had wet blood on both of his arms and was wearing a red T-shirt, which investigators noticed later had a small tear in the back. He said he’d driven to the shelter in his truck, and that he’d had a couple drinks, says the document.
He said he didn’t need medical attention for anything, and he acknowledged that he was bleeding from chain link scratches, the affidavit says.
Weeks reportedly said he’d come to the shelter the next day to “give them the money for what I did today.”
Cliame told Cowboy State Daily the puppy is now being adopted into a good home.
Bond Conditions
Because Scheerer was alone on scene, he detained Weeks for officer safety while investigating the damage to the fence, the document says.
Weeks’ breath smelled of alcohol, Scheerer observed.
The dog fence had been cut, and on the ground next to where it had been cut lay a broken pair of black aviator sunglasses and a few drops of blood, reportedly.
Weeks allegedly said he was at the shelter to get a dog about which he’d been asking the manager, and said he’d give the manager $125 for the dog.
Scheerer arrested Weeks and took him to the Washakie County Detention Center. Weeks provided a breath sample that recorded a 0.08 breath-alcohol content reading, which is in violation of Weeks’ bond conditions in a DUI case from earlier this year, the affidavit says.
Weeks arraignment is set for July 23 in Washakie County District Court. He faces one count of burglary, which is a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison and $10,000 in fines, and a misdemeanor property destruction case, punishable by up to six months in jail and $750 in fines.
Washakie County Attorney Anthony J Barton charged Weeks on June 18.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
