Man Charged With Dragging Stolen Dog to Death at Colorado National Monument
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National Park Service rangers on Thursday arrested a Grand Junction man accused of dragging a dog to its death in Colorado National Monument.
Federal prosecutors charged Steven Clay Romero, 37, with animal cruelty, a felony.
His arrest came a day after a German Shepherd-Blue Heeler mix was found with a rope around its neck along Rim Rock Drive, the main road through the park in western Colorado.
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Rangers said the dog, named Buddy, was stolen by others from downtown Delta on Tuesday. The dog was tied to a pickup truck and dragged for about 2 miles up the steep and winding road, rangers said.
Rangers said tips they got through a hotline helped lead them to Romero.
According to an arrest warrant affidavit, a witness wrote down the license plate of a vehicle that stole the dog. That led investigators to a Fruita home, where a neighbor said he saw Romero leaving the home with a dog and pickup truck that matched images seen in video surveillance taken from the park around 2:18 a.m. Wednesday, according to the affidavit.
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Romero appeared in Mesa County court Thursday on unrelated charges and was arrested as he left the courtroom. A phone number for him was unlisted.