A Vancouver man who potentially faced a felony animal cruelty charge for allegedly dragging his dog behind his pickup, killing the animal, has been exonerated in Clark County Superior Court.
David Kadow, 52, made a first appearance in Superior Court last month on suspicion of first-degree animal cruelty stemming from the May 22 incident.
Kadow was scheduled to be arraigned Thursday, but his case was instead sent to the Vancouver City Attorney’s Office for review. It’s possible that misdemeanor animal cruelty charges could be filed in District Court, Clark County Deputy Prosecutor Aaron Bartlett said in an interview.
“We got all of the police reports, necropsy and photographs of the dog, and we reviewed them thoroughly,” Bartlett said. “There wasn’t substantial evidence of (intentional) animal cruelty in this case. Had there been, we certainly would have prosecuted this case pretty aggressively.”
Kadow, who was being held at the Clark County Jail on $75,000 bail, posted bond prior to his canceled court appearance Thursday, Bartlett said.
According to a probable cause affidavit filed in Superior Court, Vancouver police were called to the 3300 block of East 21st Street after receiving a report that a dog had been dragged by a truck to a home there, then was taken inside.
Two witnesses, Jacob and Rikki Harvilo, were inside their home in the 2800 block of East 28th Street when they heard a dog loudly yelping and crying. When they looked outside, they reportedly saw a dog hanging by a leash from the side of a truck. The dog was bouncing off the side of the truck and pavement, the affidavit said.
Jacob Harvilo ran after the truck, yelling for the driver, later identified by police as Kadow, to stop. Rikki Harvilo got into her car and drove after the pickup, honking her horn in an effort to get Kadow to stop. However, he continued driving, court records said.
Rikki Harvilo said she saw Kadow arrive at his residence and carry the dead dog inside, according to court documents.
Other witnesses reported seeing Kadow driving his truck and dragging the dog. When he turned from East 28th Street onto Norris Road, the dog was swept under the rear passenger tire of the truck, killing the animal, court records state.
Police said Kadow was uncooperative during their investigation, so they got a search warrant for the home after they were unable to get inside to check on the dog, the affidavit said. They found a dead female dog inside. Clark County Animal Control took the dog to conduct a necropsy.
Vancouver police Officer Jordan Rasmussen wrote in the affidavit that “had David stopped before he turned, the dog would have likely survived its injuries on her feet.”
Kadow’s wife, Wendi, previously told The Columbian that her husband would never intentionally hurt their dog, Hailey, a 10-year-old pit bull.
The City Attorney’s Office said it has not yet reviewed the case.
Man accused of sexual online chats with girl
A 21-year-old man made a first appearance Thursday in Clark County Superior Court for allegedly having an online sexual relationship with a girl.
Christopher Esch, an active-duty soldier stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, appeared on suspicion of communicating with a minor for immoral purposes. The alleged victim is a 15-year-old Vancouver girl, according to court records.
The two met through Facebook and have been talking for nearly two years, during which time they had multiple conversations about sex, according to a probable cause affidavit filed in Superior Court.
On May 9, Esch allegedly sent the girl a video of him and his 20-year-old girlfriend that was sexual in nature. Esch’s girlfriend later discovered that he had sent the video to the girl, confronted him and said she was going to call the police, the affidavit states. Esch assaulted the woman and took her phone, according to the Lakewood Police Department.
Vancouver police later contacted the girl, and she confirmed that Esch had sent her the video. She also said that they had met in person about five times, but she denied having a physical relationship with him, according to court records. Police recovered the video from the girl’s Facebook, along with an extensive sexual chat history between her and Esch, court documents said.
Esch later turned himself in to police.
On Thursday, Judge Scott Collier set Esch’s bail at $5,000. Esch did not qualify for a court-appointed attorney, court records show.
Esch will be arraigned June 16.
Jessica Prokop: 360-735-4551; jessica.prokop@columbian.com; twitter.com/JProkop16
