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AURORA,
Ill. -- A 22-year-old man has been charged with three felonies after
allegedly shooting three of his neighbor's dogs to death Sunday
morning, according to a news realease from the Aurora Police Department.
Justin
Scott WackerlinJustin Scott Wackerlin, of the 400 block of Bangs
Street in Aurora, is being held on three counts of criminal damage
to property, and single counts of misdemeanor reckless discharge
of a firearm and obstructing a police officer.
Wackerlin
appeared for weekend bond call at the Kane County Judicial Center
in St. Charles where his bail was set at $5,000. His next court
date is July 15 at 9:00 a.m.
Wackerlin
has been accused of shooting a Rottweiler and a husky that were
kept in a backyard kennel in the 400 block of South Union Street,
as well as a pit bull that was in a neighboring backyard kennel,
sometime around 5 a.m., according to the news release.
All
three animals were shot in the head, apparently with a .410-gauge
shotgun.
Neither
Wackerlin's 24 - year - old girlfriend, nor the man who was with
him at the time of the alleged offense, were charged. Police reports
indicate that alcohol apparently played a factor in the incident.
According
to the release, police responded to the Union Street address at
approximately 9:45 a.m. on Sunday, after the 23-year-old man who
owned the Rottweiler and husky discovered the dogs. While police
were on the scene, the 19-year-old man who owned the pit bull and
lived next door, approached an officer and reported that he, too,
found his dog shot to death.
Upon
investigation, police were pointed to the garage where Wackerlin
apparently lives, after witnesses reported that they saw Wackerlin
allegedly holding what appeared to be a rifle in his hands after
they heard what could have been gunshots sometime between 4:30 a.m.
and 5 a.m.
Officers
secured permission to search the garage and located Wackerlin asleep
on the floor with his girlfriend. When told to stand up, Wackerlin
apparently became belligerent, threatened to shoot the officers
and resisted their attempts to take him into custody.
After
investigating the area, officers located spent shell casings near
the garage; and later located the shotgun apparently used in the
offense, and additional spent shell casings, in his girlfriend's
bedroom, which is located on the second story of the house on the
property. Wackerlin allegedly shot the dogs while in the company
of a 74-year-old male acquaintance for an unknown reason, according
to the release.
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