CLEARFIELD – A Clearfield man is in jail for allegedly shooting a dog in the face.
Skylar Thomas Williams, 21, has been charged by Officer Kyle Bish of the Lawrence Township police with felony counts of aggravated cruelty to animals, receiving stolen property, possession of a firearm prohibited and possession of firearm with manufacturer number altered, plus a misdemeanor count of recklessly endangering another person.
Williams was arraigned at 3:30 p.m. Friday before Magisterial District Judge Mike Morris; he was subsequently incarcerated in county jail in lieu of $100,000 bail. His preliminary hearing has been scheduled for 10:45 a.m. Wednesday during centralized court.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, at approximately 2:56 p.m. Dec. 30, a resident called police because his dog had escaped and wandered over to the Hill Street area. He said while his dog was gone, it was shot in the face.
When he got to his dog, it was still alive, he said, and he immediately transported it to State College for medical treatment. He also provided police contact information for a witness to obtain further information from.
The resident said the shooting occurred near a blue trailer and involved a male and female. Bish went to the trailer and spoke with a male who was “adamant” that he hadn’t heard any gunshots in the area. On-scene, Bish saw a Dodge Caliber parked out front.
Bish proceeded to make contact with the witness who told him that she saw two dogs up the road around 12 p.m. Then, she reportedly heard one gunshot followed by a dog “whimpering and barking.” Eventually, it ran off.
From her window, she saw two people running behind a trailer. She said both stopped and appeared to be hiding something; she watched them enter the trailer.
She believed a male shot the dog and saw him leave in a Dodge Caliber. She left for a period of time but came back and the vehicle was there again.
Bish returned to the trailer and asked the male if any other males resided there. He said no. Bish asked if officers could look around outside for a weapon, which they did with consent. However, their search ended with negative results.
Police received information from the caller that the veterinarian had located a bullet lodged in his dog’s face. He said the bullet was too large to be from a rifle and perhaps was from a handgun.
Following the incident Dec. 30, a resident who lived near the trailer reviewed their security footage. They positively identified the male and female with the male being Williams.
They were shown walking up Hill Street, then 45 seconds later running back down. While heading toward the trailer, Williams can be seen attempting to put a suspected firearm in the waistband of his pants.
On Friday police went to the Budget Inn because it was believed Williams was “hiding out” there. Police made contact with Williams and his girlfriend, Morgan Reffett, 20, of Clearfield, in their motel room, and she was taken into custody on a warrant.
Inside the room, police detected an “overwhelming” odor of a controlled substance and observed drug paraphernalia in plain view, according to a separate police report.
A search warrant was obtained and allegedly resulted in the seizure of several small baggies of Carfentanil; methamphetamine; several glassine baggies of heroin; numerous pills; marijuana; and drug paraphernalia. Also, inside the room, were two stolen handguns.
Williams was transported to the police station for the purposes of an interview and written statement in the animal cruelty investigation. He told police he and his girlfriend were walking down the road when the two dogs “ran up” on them.
He said he had his gun out and at his side, and they tried to continue walking. However, he said the dogs continued to jump and lunge at them and it got to the point that he had “no other options” so he fired one shot at the dog.
Both Williams and Reffett were charged with drug- and weapons-related offenses and arraigned in the motel room incident, police said.