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Road-Rager Hurled Poodle Into Traffic
Cops Hunt Driver Who Killed Woman's Pet
March 3, 2000
By Carol Huang
SAN JOSE, Calif. (APBnews.com) -- Police are searching for a man who snatched a woman's dog out of her car during a traffic dispute and hurled it onto the road, where it was struck and killed by oncoming cars as she watched.
The incident happened as the dog's owner, Sara McBurnett, headed to the San Jose International Airport to pick up her husband, an American Airlines pilot.
McBurnett, 38, a real estate agent living in Tahoe, Nev., said it was dark and stormy when the driver of a dark sport utility vehicle (SUV) cut in front of her as she tried to navigate crowded airport traffic.
She said she inched forward, tapping his bumper lightly, and was stunned when the man leaped out of his car and came at her, screaming. She rolled her window down to speak to him, but had said only a few words when he grabbed her dog off her lap.
Related Audio:
Sara McBurnett Describes the Attack on Her Dog, Leo
"I thought, 'Oh my god, he's dognapping him, he's going to bring him to his car and steal him.' Instead, he turned around and threw him into oncoming lanes," McBurnett said in a telephone interview.
'A car beat me to him'
McBurnett said she started running toward her dog but turned back to her car when she heard a thump and realized she'd neglected to put the car in park, allowing it to hit the SUV again.
"The worst decision I ever made in my life was to turn around and go put my car in park so it wouldn't continue moving. That gave traffic in the opposite direction time to start coming. I ran back to get my dog, but a car beat me to him," McBurnett said.
McBurnett said her dog, Leo, still was alive when she reached him. She said she was hysterically trying to call 911 when her husband came out of the airport. Together they rushed him to an emergency veterinarian, but it was too late.
The San Jose Police Department's assault unit, which investigates incidents of animal cruelty, said the case has drawn more attention than a series of cat murders in which the felines were mutilated and left for owners to find.
"We got attention on that, but not as near as much attention as we've gotten on this. It's just shocking," Detective Howard Johnson said.
Radio listeners donated $30,000
Related Feature:
Animals and Crime
It has been three weeks since Leo died, and listeners and readers of local media have donated a total of more than $30,000 toward a reward fund for information leading to the arrest of Leo's killer.
"I've never seen this kind of response," said Gene Rusco, South Bay bureau chief for KGO-AM radio in San Francisco, where listeners began calling in donations for a reward immediately after McBurnett's story was aired.
"It would not have gotten the same kind of response if he had shot this woman," Rusco said. "We hear about murders day in and day out. We become numb to human suffering. We don't hear about animal abuse that much. We do, but not as often as human abuse."
'He was our child'
McBurnett was unable to get the SUV's license number, but police are searching for a dark SUV with Virginia plates. A report in the San Jose Mercury News described the suspect as a white male in his 20s with a slender build and a goatee.
McBurnett said she and her husband, who have no children, had Leo cremated and plan to scatter his ashes along his favorite beach in Tahoe when the weather gets nicer.
"He just celebrated life like you wouldn't believe. He was a happy soul. He had a wonderful dog life," she said. "He was just a precious, precious pet. He was our child."
Road-Rager Hurled Poodle Into Traffic
Cops Hunt Driver Who Killed Woman's Pet
March 3, 2000
By Carol Huang
SAN JOSE, Calif. (APBnews.com) -- Police are searching for a man who snatched a woman's dog out of her car during a traffic dispute and hurled it onto the road, where it was struck and killed by oncoming cars as she watched.
The incident happened as the dog's owner, Sara McBurnett, headed to the San Jose International Airport to pick up her husband, an American Airlines pilot.
McBurnett, 38, a real estate agent living in Tahoe, Nev., said it was dark and stormy when the driver of a dark sport utility vehicle (SUV) cut in front of her as she tried to navigate crowded airport traffic.
She said she inched forward, tapping his bumper lightly, and was stunned when the man leaped out of his car and came at her, screaming. She rolled her window down to speak to him, but had said only a few words when he grabbed her dog off her lap.
Related Audio:
Sara McBurnett Describes the Attack on Her Dog, Leo
"I thought, 'Oh my god, he's dognapping him, he's going to bring him to his car and steal him.' Instead, he turned around and threw him into oncoming lanes," McBurnett said in a telephone interview.
'A car beat me to him'
McBurnett said she started running toward her dog but turned back to her car when she heard a thump and realized she'd neglected to put the car in park, allowing it to hit the SUV again.
"The worst decision I ever made in my life was to turn around and go put my car in park so it wouldn't continue moving. That gave traffic in the opposite direction time to start coming. I ran back to get my dog, but a car beat me to him," McBurnett said.
McBurnett said her dog, Leo, still was alive when she reached him. She said she was hysterically trying to call 911 when her husband came out of the airport. Together they rushed him to an emergency veterinarian, but it was too late.
The San Jose Police Department's assault unit, which investigates incidents of animal cruelty, said the case has drawn more attention than a series of cat murders in which the felines were mutilated and left for owners to find.
"We got attention on that, but not as near as much attention as we've gotten on this. It's just shocking," Detective Howard Johnson said.
Radio listeners donated $30,000
Related Feature:
Animals and Crime
It has been three weeks since Leo died, and listeners and readers of local media have donated a total of more than $30,000 toward a reward fund for information leading to the arrest of Leo's killer.
"I've never seen this kind of response," said Gene Rusco, South Bay bureau chief for KGO-AM radio in San Francisco, where listeners began calling in donations for a reward immediately after McBurnett's story was aired.
"It would not have gotten the same kind of response if he had shot this woman," Rusco said. "We hear about murders day in and day out. We become numb to human suffering. We don't hear about animal abuse that much. We do, but not as often as human abuse."
'He was our child'
McBurnett was unable to get the SUV's license number, but police are searching for a dark SUV with Virginia plates. A report in the San Jose Mercury News described the suspect as a white male in his 20s with a slender build and a goatee.
McBurnett said she and her husband, who have no children, had Leo cremated and plan to scatter his ashes along his favorite beach in Tahoe when the weather gets nicer.
"He just celebrated life like you wouldn't believe. He was a happy soul. He had a wonderful dog life," she said. "He was just a precious, precious pet. He was our child."