Army Veteran Arrested: Dog Rescued From Hot Car, But Hero Gets Arrested For ‘Criminal Trespassing’
An army veteran was arrested after saving a dog from a hot car in Georgia, after the dog’s owner demanded the man be charged for breaking the window of her car.
According to the Huffington Post, Michael Hammons saw the Yorkshire Terrier inside of a Mustang in the parking lot of a strip mall in Athens. The dog was panting, and all of the windows were up. Others had also noticed the animal inside the car, and police had been called, but Hammons didn’t want to wait any longer — he was worried about the pup.
“I knew there’d be consequences, but it didn’t matter. Glass, they make new glass every day, but they could never replace that dog.”
RT NYDailyNews “An Army veteran was arrested for smashing a window to save a dog from a hot car: police. … pic.twitter.com/GjLgGnxJGy”
— Jean-François Musy (@jfmusy) May 12, 2015
That time when you do the right thing, like rescue a dog from hot car and you get arrested: http://t.co/lll3LbyIiG pic.twitter.com/PzAewI7nfY
— WFMY News 2 (@WFMY) May 12, 2015
shouldnt he be rewarded? “@WISH_TV Man arrested after smashing window, saving dog from hot car http://t.co/2Fr5IVs50S pic.twitter.com/NR4k2GamXw
— Cassie (@CutieCass) May 12, 2015
The army veteran was arrested because to save the dog, he needed to break the car’s window. After doing so, he took the dog to a shaded area and gave him some water. The dog’s owner — a 22-year-old woman — was furious and demanded there be consequences.
“We didn’t want to charge him, but he told us he broke the windows and when you have a victim there saying she wants him charged, we had no other choice,” Chief Deputy Lee Weems said. The dog owner was also cited.
According to Fox News, there is a law in Georgia that states that people can break car windows to save children from hot cars, but there is no such law in place for pets. Animal rights activists are said to be working on changing that. Of course, if a law like that was in place, Mr. Hammons wouldn’t be facing these consequences.
The army veteran arrested may have saved the dog, but he’s now facing trial. As previously reported by the Inquisitr, Hammons could serve up to one year in prison and be forced to pay $1,000 fine if he is convicted.
“If it is 80 degrees outside, within 30 minutes, it will be 114 degrees inside a vehicle, even with the windows cracked,” said Deputy Weems.
[Photo via Twitter]
