Kole, left, and Bentley are two pit bulls owned by Danielle Jones that have been ordered to be euthanized by the state’s courts. Jones has said both dogs got loose while on a walk with her in October, minutes after the state supreme court upheld a euthanasia order against the dangerous pit bulls. (Photos courtesy of Danielle Jones)
Waterville police have arrested a Winslow woman and her boyfriend who they believe arranged for her two dangerous pit bulls to be stashed out of state in October, just as Maine’s highest court upheld a lower court decision to have the dogs euthanized.
Danielle Jones, 28, and Brandon Ross, 33, of 12 Lucille Ave., Winslow, were arrested at 8:30 a.m. today and charged with refusing or neglecting to comply with a dangerous dog court order, a Class D misdemeanor, Waterville police Chief Joseph Massey said. The couple was arrested as they arrived for work at The Muddy Paw, the business they own on Bay Street in Winslow, he said.
Danielle Jones and Brandon Ross
Jones’ pit bulls, Bentley and Kole, killed a dog and seriously injured a woman last year on Lucille Avenue in Winslow.
Massey said police followed a trail of text messages and phone numbers to determine Jones went to New Jersey after she took the dogs for a walk Oct. 24 outside the Humane Society Waterville Area on Webb Road in Waterville, just as the Maine Supreme Judicial Court upheld an earlier, lower court decision ordering the dogs euthanized.
Jones told shelter officials at the time that the dogs slipped their leashes and ran off into the woods, but police did not buy her story.
They have not yet been able to locate the pit bulls, but continue to search, according to Massey.
Waterville police Detective Kyle McDonald arrested Jones and Ross,with help from Waterville and Winslow police officers, Massey said. McDonald has been working the case since the dogs disappeared and on Tuesday obtained arrest warrants for Jones and Ross, he said.
The couple were taken to the Waterville Police Department and released on $2,000 cash bail. They are scheduled to appear Feb. 26 in Kennebec County Superior Court, Massey said.
“They both have conditions as part of their bail, as part of the arrest warrants, not to own or possess any new dogs,” Massey said. “They can keep any dogs they currently have; however, that does not apply to their business. She will continue to be able to work their business, which is The Muddy Paw.”
Massey said McDonald and other officers spent a lot of time investigating Jones’ movements, both locally and out of state, after the pit bulls disappeared. That required detectives to contact people both within and outside of Maine, and the officers were persistent, working through tedious details and connecting all the dots, according to Massey.
“It was a very labor intensive investigation that included going through numerous telephone logs for cell phone and texts,” he said.
Police worked closely with the Kennebec County District Attorney’s Office over the last several weeks on the case, which actually started more than a year ago.
On Aug. 30, 2016, Sharron Carey was walking her Boston terrier, Fergie Rose, down Lucille Avenue near her home, when Jones’ pit bulls, Bentley and Kole, broke free from their yard at 12 Lucille Ave. The pit bulls, a term used to encompass a variety of bull terriers but that is not a specific breed, attacked Carey and her dog. Fergie Rose died later that day and Carey was seriously injured.
After the incident, Jones was charged with two counts of keeping dangerous dogs. The district court found her guilty and ordered the dogs euthanized. She appealed to the higher court and on Oct. 24 this year that court upheld the lower court decision.
Massey said the court decision was rendered around 11 a.m. that day. Jones showed up around noon at the Humane Society Waterville Area where the dogs had been ordered to be housed last year by the court and took them for a walk.
Twenty minutes later, she returned to the shelter and said they had slipped their leashes.
Massey said it was unusual that she was allowed to walk the dogs, albeit in an enclosed area, for the entire year they were housed there. On Oct. 24, she wanted to walk the dogs by herself, he said.
Former Shelter director Lisa Smith said after the dogs disappeared that Jones had typically walked the dogs with Ross, but she was alone that day.
He said police are not sure where the dogs are, but they speculate she took the dogs to the New Jersey area. He said police looked at cell phone numbers called and text messages sent and received, and then researched addresses of people whose numbers they found and spoke with them.
“That provided a lot of information for us,” he said.
He said McDonald and other officers did great work investigating the case, and the district attorney’s office was of tremendous help as well.
Police continue to investigate, and McDonald is following up on information to try to track down the pit bulls, according to Massey.
This story will be updated.
Amy Calder — 861-9247
Twitter: @AmyCalder17
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