Some arrests in the midst of the coronavirus public health emergency are more absurd than others, especially in light of state and local judicial orders to limit all proceedings to essentials. Dottye Benton’s arrest Sunday night at her Palm Coast home is one of those.
For months in the summer and fall of 2018, Cooper the Dog dominated the attention of the Palm Coast City Council as the dog’s advocates attempted to save him from execution. Cooper had been declared a dangerous dog, had twice bitten individuals–in Port Orange and in Palm Coast–and would soon bite a third at the Flagler Humane Society, where the doberman-hound mix was quarantined.
After an administrative hearing at the City of Palm Coast, a circuit court hearing, numerous public pleas before the Palm Coast City Council, which declared its hands tied, and an appeal to the Fifth District Court of Appeal, all efforts to keep Cooper from the executioner failed. The dog was put to death in January 2019.
Benton, the dog’s now 73-year-old owner, has been making ends meet by driving for Uber.
Palm Coast government had run up a bill close to $28,000 in legal and quarantine costs, much of which could have been Benton’s liability. The city decided not to pursue the money. “We had let this go, as far as I know,” Palm Coast City Manager Matt Morton, who was not yet managing the city at the time, said today. Eva Rodriguez, the city’s animal control officer at the time, who conducted the city’s investigation of the Cooper incidents and testified at the administrative hearing, has since left animal control and works in a different section of Palm Coast government. “We all thought it was water under the bridge,” Morton said.
Weeks ago, following up on a ruling by the Florida Supreme Court, Raul Zambrano, the chief judge of the Seventh Judicial Circuit, which includes Flagler County, ruled that all court proceedings should be limited to “mission critical” matters such as bond hearings, Baker Acts, and legal matters related to the coronavirus emergency. Today, the Chief Justice of Florida extended that order through May.
But last Wednesday, Circuit Judge Terence Perkins signed a warrant for Benton’s arrest on a nearly two-year-old charge of owning a dog that injured a person after the dog had been declared dangerous, a third-degree felony.
At 10:30 p.m. Wednesday night, five Flagler County sheriff’s deputies showed up at Benton’s door, read her an arrest warrant, and arrested her. She was taken to the Flagler County jail and booked in. Her mug shot was taken. She was then released on her own recognizance–by the judge’s order, as per the warrant.
Benton had no idea a warrant was out for her arrest. Today, she was as shocked as city officials that the issue was ongoing. “The case was closed and the dog is dead,” she said. She couldn’t talk long because she was driving.
Even more puzzling is the fact that the charge is based on one filed by Palm Coast–by Rodriguez as the animal control officer on the case, and not by either victims of the second or the third bite (Terry Sandt, a carpet cleaner who’d gone to Benton’s house to do some work and was attacked by the dog there, or Shane Blalock, the employee at the Humane Society whom Cooper bit while Benton was visiting. Cooper had gotten away.)
“Because of this being the third reported bite case of the dog named Cooper,” the charging affidavit reads, “and because Dottye Benton did not take responsibility to follow the order from the Port Orange Animal Control Office and did not keep Cooper in a muzzle and on a chain or leash and under her control to avoid further incidents and also made no attempt to report the third bite, and because the dog caused servere injury on the second bite incident involving Terry Sandt, The Palm Coast Animal Control Office is pursuing the Felony charge of Statue # 767.13 (2) the Attack / Bite of a previously declared dangerous dog that caused severe injury.”
This is the very same charging affidavit that FlaglerLive first reported on in August 2018, when the case was still very active. Nothing has changed since. Benton still lives at the same R-Section house where she was living at the time. The facts of the case haven’t changed, other than Cooper’s death and the city’s decision to move on from the issue.
Then as now, the affidavit states the charge would be forwarded to the State Attorney’s Office, which must decide whether to ratify the charge with an official filing. The State Attorney did not do so in August 2018. It isn’t clear why the affidavit is re-emerging now. The State Attorney’s Office doesn’t discuss what cases it will or will not file informations on, though with neither bite victims pursuing the charge and the city itself not interested in doing so, it would be a surprise if the State Attorney’s Office filed an information. (Morton said it’s not the city’s role to interfere in that decision: “I can’t encourage the state’s attorney to file charges, I can’t encourage the state’s attorney to not file charges,” he said, though prosecutors are not usually interested in pursuing charges where they cannot make a vigorous case.)
Meanwhile, Benton is back in the the system’s crosshairs, 15 months after Cooper became a memory.
Barker says
Animal control officer looking for a sweet payout.
C’mon man says
Do the crime, do the time
Really says
Lawsuit for money. Oh gee I couldnt have guessed. Pitiful
Danm50 says
I hope Judge Zambrano will inform the public re: this case. I personally think Judge Perkins was not prudent in this decision to issue this warrant at this or any time.
Concerned Citizen says
Five Deputies for a 3rd degree Felony warrant with an OR Bond on it? Wow LOL. Must have been a slow night. And to do it at 10:30 PM. I have served warrants and the only time I ever needed more than my partner was on high risk stuff. Not for a 2 year old case and for a 73 year old woman. I normally support our SO but this was over kill.
As for Judge Perkin signing that warrant I’m not surprised. He only protects pedos and druggies. Anybody else is going to get a Felony conviction and go to Prison.
It’s cases like this that make Flagler County a laghing stock. We need an over haul from the Bench to BOCC and down.
Ridiculous says
Just curious how the lady is held responsible to have a muzzle and leash on the dog when the dog was under the Humane Societys care? The dog was in their custody under quarantine, they knew the dog was already declared dangerous so how is it the womans fault? The Humane Society worker was negligent and was bitten, the worker should have had the dog leashed and muzzled. They cant seriously hold this woman accountable due to the workers own negligence when they had custody of the animal. Its been almost 2 years, the dog was put down, let it go, whats the point of charging and arresting the woman over Flagler Humane Societys negligence? Sounds like they are hurting for $$ and need the charge to pursue a lawsuit. How ridiculous, more important issues the courts need to deal with instead of some $ driven bs.
Alan Lefstead says
This is ludicrous. The State attorney has made a very poor decision to reopen this case more than 15 months after the dog was put down. Worse is the decision to move forward with this case after rules were put in place for only essential matters going through the court system during this pandemic.
Brian says
So while we’re trying to keep everyone safe and at home let’s jerk this poor lady out of her home and insert her into what is probably one of the least sanitary and closest quartered places in the county – for some dumb shit. Doesn’t look like much thought put into this one…
Rich says
Seriously??? With everything else that is going on this was a priority? Seems like misplaced needs. What a waste of money and resources.
Friggen Crazy says
That’s right Folks 5 of our Finest. I came to Palm Coast in 1979 and it was beautiful Great People and a Good Sheriff Dept. now its nothing short of a Horror Show. I voted for the Sheriff but not next time.
DON says
Wow. Politics at its best. Hope we get the rest of the story.
mark101 says
absurd is an understatement.
MRC says
The law is the law. I read that non-essential court proceedings are pushed back, so I am sure they will arrest her, get a court date, and let go on her own recognizance. Don’t make a big deal out of this. She violated the law and the state’s attorney general saw fit to file charges. Business as usual. She will have her day in court.
Les Paul says
If she’d done the right thing to begin with she wouldn’t be in this position. What goes around comes around.
Shana Maines says
So, in the midst of a global pandemic, 5 police officers show up at 10:30pm on a Sunday night to arrest my 5’ 2”, 73 year old mother for something that happened 2 years ago and the dog has been gone for almost a year and a half. Is this really what Flagler County is doing with your taxpayers’ dollars??? If these overzealous actions aren’t the absolute definition of fear and intimidation, I don’t know what is. Even with all the crazy things going on in this world right now, this might be the most disgusting thing I’ve heard. What an embarrassing waste of time and money. The courts aren’t even open! I’m really struggling to understand this…why now?
The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office put my mom at risk and it was totally uncalled for. I hope she does not contract COVID19 because of their aggressive and unnecessary actions.
Absolutely disgraceful.
Richard says
The following paragraph quoted from the article says it ALL. She would not be under arrest and in this situation if she had taken the order seriously. Instead she chose to ignore it. There are consequences for peoples actions.
“Because of this being the third reported bite case of the dog named Cooper,” the charging affidavit reads, “and because Dottye Benton did not take responsibility to follow the order from the Port Orange Animal Control Office and did not keep Cooper in a muzzle and on a chain or leash and under her control to avoid further incidents and also made no attempt to report the third bite, and because the dog caused servere injury on the second bite incident involving Terry Sandt, The Palm Coast Animal Control Office is pursuing the Felony charge of Statue # 767.13 (2) the Attack / Bite of a previously declared dangerous dog that caused severe injury.”
Dottye Benton says
It would be nice if you knew what you were talking about, but you don’t. You just assume you know. In fact, you know NOTHING about me at all. I could just spout off anything about you, without facts, but I wouldn’t stoop that low.
John R Brady says
What will it take to leave this poor woman alone? Shame on all the characters involved in persecuting this woman.
It is interesting that the City Council said they did not want to put Cooper down when the court hearing was pending and yet the city attorney went forward to a court hearing. In the real world the city attorney would have been disciplined for failure to follow the orders of his superiors. In this case, the feckless City Council chose not too to take any action with regard to the city attorney not following their direction.
As any attorney knows, when involved in a legal action either party can choose not to follow through. In Cooper’s case if the city attorney simply said to the court that the city was not going to challenge Ms. Benton’s petition, the court would have ruled in Ms. Benton’s favor. The result would be Cooper would have gone to a rescue farm and saved the Palm Coast taxpayers.
The taxpayers of Palm Coast paid $28,000 to prosecute this action. The city attorney decided to farm out the prosecution of this case to another attorney in his firm.
Perhaps the reason the city attorney farmed out this action was because he was busy representing one of the four other governmental agencies that he represents. His representation of other governmental agencies is found on his firm’s web page.
It should also be noted that when Cooper bit the third person, Cooper was in the legal custody of the city of Palm Coast and the physical custody of the Flagler County Humane Society. The city of Palm Coast placed Cooper in the physical custody of the Humane Society.
When will the people who have chosen do persecute Ms. Benton decide to leave her alone? Do these people have no conscience?
CB from PC says
Put the cops out on traffic patrol after 9 pm on Friday and Saturday nights. I am sure they will come up with bigger fish. This is a waste. of resources all around. Dog was in custody of Humane Society. Dog is dead, end of story.