They got him.
I was in the library at work, reading the paper, and saw way back on page 26-A or somthing that they got him.
This was the cad who, in a fit of road rage, reached into a woman’s car, grabbed her Bichon Friese, and threw it into oncoming traffic.
I don’t know if this is old news or what, but I’m glad to know that he’s in jail. What an insufferable bastard.
That’s good to hear.
I hope he gets his asshole severly stretched in prison.
Just found a link.
Thank you, I was about to yell at Mr. Cynical for not providing details.
This is from the Associated Press:
----------------Associated Press---------------------------
APRIL 13, 10:13 EST
Man Indicted in Road Rage Case
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — More than a year after a dog’s death in a road rage incident sparked outrage among animal lovers, a man has been indicted in the case.
Andrew Burnett, 27, faces up to three years in prison if convicted on a charge of killing or abusing an animal. He was already jailed on unrelated charges.
The dog’s owner, Sara McBurnett, said a truck driver became enraged when she got into a minor fender bender with him in February 2000.
When he approached her car, McBurnett said, she rolled down her window to apologize. That’s when the man reached in and snatched her dog, Leo, threw him into oncoming traffic and fled.
``His movements, his body language. He was so aggressive. He had my dog before I could even react. It was like lightning,’’ McBurnett said at the time.
The small white dog, a bichon frise that McBurnett called ``my best friend for 10 years,’’ died later at a veterinary hospital.
McBurnett was inundated with condolence messages from dog lovers around the country, and $110,000 in reward money was collected.
Burnett has been in jail in Santa Clara County on unrelated charges since December. Heis accused of stealing thousands of dollars worth of tools from his employer, Pacific Bell and lying to get out of a speeding ticket.
Though he declined to give details, assistant district attorney Al Weger said the investigation into the theft uncovered a lead in Leo’s case. ``We think we have a very strong case,’’ he said.
The dog’s death touched everybody's heart,'' said Marcia Mayeda of the Humane Society of Santa Clara Valley. It was a defenseless little animal that was victimized in a very serious way.’’
The jailed suspect could not be reached to comment and has no lawyer.
Apparently he was in jail on other charges - big surprise there.
I am not a mod, nor do I play one on TV, callie, but I assume that your cut& paste is going to be frowned upon, for copyright reasons. Better to link to news stories like that than to post them here.
Tattle tail. Teacher’s pet. Email instead of publicly defaming.
The daughter of a former Mayor of our fair city was murdered and thrown from a truck. He was fairly angry that the dog story got nation wide attention and his daughter’s murder has gone unsolved.
I’m glad they caught the guy.
Like you just did?
And you consider that defaming? I was just trying to be helpful, and thought I was at least moderatley polite about it.
Well Hell, I guess we’re both jerks.
My parents used to have a bitchin freeze. Rotten little critter, but I wouldn’t’ve wanted to see her made into a parkway pizza.
I’m glad they caught the guy.
Wow, that’s really sad- and scary- that someone could be that angry. Thank God he didn’t do any physical harm to Ms. McBurnett.
Anyone else find it interesting that their last names are so very similar?
OK, picture this. You are in an all fire hurry to get to the airport, in the hell traffic that exists in the South Bay/Silicon Valley Area. There’s this idiot woman driving next to you, with her stupid, fluffy white rat-dog jumping all around in the driver’s compartment – up on her lap, head out the window, back to the passenger seat, etc. She’s not paying attention, she almost cuts you off, you slam on the breaks. You’re LATE, and going to miss your fligtht, and it’s hotter than hell, and the traffic is stop and go. Damnit, damnit, damnit. This woman in front of you is still not paying any damn attention. WTF!! She let that truck cut in front of her! What an IDIOT! You pull out and around her. Finally, she’s out of the picture. You’re still LATE. Oh, here we go, the traffic’s letting up, maybe I’ll make it. What the hell!?? She rear ended me! That stupid bitch with the little rat dog jumping in her lap! F-ing thing was probably licking her face and she f-ing rear ended me!
The lady had it coming.
Too bad for the dog though.
Sorry about that. Should I have the mods remove it? I tried to link to it but I couldn’t get it to work. I thought I had said enough times (well I thought two was enough) that it was from the Associated Press… but I guess I was wrong. Won’t happen again!
[sub]If that is the most “defamed” I ever get then that is pretty darn good[/sub]
though I don’t support the death penalty for lesser offenses (killing a human for example)… but a dog… he shouldn’t just be put down, he should suffer a little bit in the process…
Of course she did. Clearly, you were there, and witnessed everything happening inside both cars at the same time. :trolleyes:
It of course couldn’t have been the other person’s fault. :trolleyes:
Shelbo, everyone’s allowed to get annoyed on the road. I know I get pissed off easily at other drivers for a plethora of reasons. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to go kill someone’s dog- and even if I did, it shouldn’t excuse me.
Throwing someone’s pet into traffic is much too angry of a response to a minor fender bender. Reaching into someone’s car and pulling ANYTHING out to throw onto a busy road- even a ratty old coat or their half eaten lunch- is uncalled for.
Imagine it from her point of view. You’re driving behind a truck, and maybe you’re not paying as much attention as you should have been- and oops! You bump into the back of his truck. Of course, you’re upset because this will be taking time out of your schedule and money out of your pocket, and the truck driver will no doubt be upset. In fact, he is, and as he approaches your car, you roll your window down to apologize and discuss exchanging contact info and how to fix the damage. Before you can say a word, he reaches in, grabs your beloved dog, throws it in the street, and leaves. Your dog, which is your companion and friend, gets hit by a car and dies at a veterinary hospital, just because you accidentally hit the back of some stranger’s truck.
I somehow think that’s a lot worse than Shelbo’s version of it.
I also think, though, that maybe a little too much attention is being called to this case. I do think it’s an awful, terrible, sick thing to have happen, but too many people do far worse things and get away scot-free. And that bothers me.
shelbo, I pictured it. Still does not justify violence.
I know the 101. I know the San Jose airport. So, you’re in a traffic jam, you’re late (& whose fault is that, hmmmm?) so what. Everyone else is in the traffic with you, getting hot & irritable; several hundred other people per mile of roadway…what makes YOU so special? Get over yourself.
And do you know for a fact the little dog was jumping around distracting Sara McBurnett? What, you’ve NEVER been distracted or done an airhead thing while driving? And if you did, did that justify having some irate moron grab your dog, your stereo, your kid & throw it into traffic?
Sheesh. :rolleyes:
what a sick fuck.
Well, I don’t think they should necessarily throw the book at this guy. What he did was bad, but if its the only time he’s commited this type of violence against animals, I’d be real mad if he got any jail time for this offense. Granted, he was already in jail for an unrelated crime, so he may be an all-around jerk like most people think. I think it comes down to the fact that he threw a dog, not a person, and he did it a fit of rage, not premeditated or anything like that.
I have basically the same interpretation of the events as Shelbo does, although not quite as detailed. Obviously I wasn’t there, and this is just my own take on the situation, but I think the lady probably caused the accident. In nearly all cases where someone is rear-ended the person doing the rear-ending is considered to be at fault. I also expect that the lady allowing the dog to be free in the driver’s compartment probably significantly contributed to the accident.
Now, after the accident occurs the guy approaches the woman’s car. He is already overreacting to the fender-bender, and he sees the dog loose in the car. He concludes (correctly or not) that the dog has distracted the woman, and she caused the accident because she wasn’t concentrating on her driving. Then, he crosses the line and tosses the dog. He probably immediately regreted it once he realized what he had done, but he just lost it for a second.
He should have to reimburse the woman for the cost of the dog, and probably pay some punative money or mental anguish or whatever, but anything beyond that, especially jail time, would be excessive for a first-time offense. If he’s shown other instances of violence in his past, maybe a harsher penalty would be appropriate.
By the way, the amount of media coverage this case has drawn and the absurd reward offered for this guy are pathetic. I’m sure that the effort and resourses spent on finding this guy who killed a dog, could have been better spent finding some murderers, rapists, or whatever.