King’s guilty plea was accepted by Judge Jeannine Pratt, who ordered a presentence investigation and scheduled sentencing Nov. 2. King could be sentenced to up to one year in prison. Prosecutors are jointly recommending a sentence of probation, according to court documents. NANCY BOWMAN, CONTRIBUTING WRITER
UPDATE @ 5:15 p.m. June 3: A 20-year-old man is in the Miami County Jail awaiting arraignment on charges stemming from the theft of six beagle pups from a yard on Young Street.
Matthew Allen King was arrested just after 1 p.m. and is being detained on a felony charge of receiving stolen property and a misdemeanor charge of cruelty to animals, according to the Miami Valley Jails website.
FIRST REPORT
It takes a “heartless person” to steal puppies from their mother in the middle of the night, Kenneth Nash said.
The Piqua man reported his six, 6-week-old beagle pups missing from a cage in his backyard on Young Street around 4 a.m. today.
The dogs are still being nursed by their mother.
Police found the puppies a few hours later and returned them. One suffered an eye injury, but the others were unharmed.
Charges are pending against someone. The person is unfamiliar to the dogs’ owner.
Nash thanked police for their quick action.