Suspect in animal cruelty case fears more charges
Police held 3 after raid on basement in Yonkers
building
Richard Liebson
The Journal News
Feb. 6, 2003
<Correction>Jason bratton has been referred to be one
of the suspects/defendants in the Yonkers pit bull den raided by cops in
January. His real name is Jaron Bratton.</xCorrection> One of three
defendants in a Yonkers animal cruelty case said yesterday that a grand jury
was considering more serious charges against him and the other two suspects,
who were arrested after police raided a building where pit bulls were being
trained to fight.
"I didn't do anything but try to help these dogs and
now they want to charge me with a felony and lock me up for three years,''
said Kyle Ellison. "It just ain't fair."
Ellison has insisted since his arrest that he was
working for $20 a day cleaning out the dogs' cages.
Chief Assistant District Attorney Clement S. Pa! tti
Jr. would not confirm that a grand jury had been convened, but said the case
was still under investigation and that additional charges were possible.
"The DA has made it clear that she will seek the
highest possible charges that are supported by the evidence in this case,''
Patti said.
Ellison, along with Dean Clymer and Jason Bratton, were
each charged with three misdemeanors - fifth-degree possession of stolen
property, injury to an animal and failure to insure an animal - on Jan. 14
after police discovered 17 pit bulls, some of them wounded and starving, in
a filthy basement in southwest Yonkers.
Also found was equipment used to strengthen some of the
dogs, along with antibiotics, anti-inflammatory drugs and food supplements.
Some of the dogs were used as bait to train the fighters, police said, and
three had been stolen from a Yonkers shelter. Three dogs had to be
destroyed.
While a number of animal welfare organizations have
praised police and prosecutors for shutting down the Yonkers operation, six
activists turned out yesterday to protest the handling
of the case by Westchester County District Attorney Jeanine Pirro's office.
"I'm fed up,'' said Kiley Blackman of the Animal
Defenders of Westchester as she led the 90-minute demonstration at the
Westchester County Courthouse in White Plains. "We want these people charged
with felonies and prosecuted to the fullest. That's the only way we're going
to get rid of this kind of activity in Westchester County.''
Carrying signs with slogans such as "Justice for Pit
Bulls'' and "Pirro - Dog Fighting is a Felony," Kiley's group said they have
also filed a complaint against Pirro with the Grievance Committee of the 9th
Judicial District, calling for felony charges to be lodged under the state's
Agriculture and Markets law. The complaint, dated Jan. 22, says Pirro should
be sanctioned or removed from office if she "cannot act ethically toward
animals ... .''
"People who abuse animals are the serial killers and
mass ! murderers of the future,'' said demonstrator Taffy Williams of
Yonkers. "If the prosecution is not going to uphold the standards already
written in the law, what hope do we have of eliminating this problem?''
Patti also defended Pirro's record on animal abuse,
saying that more than 20 defendants have been sentenced to jail time in
about 50 such cases.
"The DA herself is an animal lover,'' he said.
Clymer, Ellison and Bratton are out on $10,000 bail and
are due in Yonkers City Court on Feb. 28.
Staff writer Bill Hughes contributed to this report.
Reach Richard Liebson at
[email protected]
or 914-694-3534.
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Record Number: wst2003102209172065
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