Middleburg Heights — Middleburg Heights is at the center of a $100,000 lawsuit.
A Police Officer and Animal Control officer allegedly seized a man's dogs, hiding them for days. And this is not the first time the city has been accused of illegally taking pets.
In what was a very upsetting video posted on YouTube, you can hear Middleburg Heights Police Officer Jim Steinmetz say to the dog owner “I'll shoot her," referring to Johnnie D’Angelo’s dog.
A panicked D’Angelo replied "If you shoot her, you'll have to shoot me."
He just wanted to keep his dogs, including a registered service animal that recently had puppies. He suffered a severe head injury and needs the dogs.
D'Angelo was traveling across the country with them and stopped at a motel in the city, and police were tipped off.
That’s when the Steinmetz and the City’s Animal Control Officer Laura Takacs swooped in.
She told D’Angelo, "If you don't have dog tags we can impound them and destroy them."
The dogs were held for more than six days until an attorney saw D'Angelo's video on social media and offered to help.
"He was not given any citations. There was no information given on how to get the dogs back,” said attorney Michela Huth.
It wasn't until Huth filed a lawsuit against the City that the dogs were returned.
Lawsuit against Middleburg Heights employees by WKYC.com on Scribd
“I telephoned Middleburg Heights no less than 5 or 6 times. I called Laura Takacs, the animal control officer four times. I called the Chief of Police twice. Not one person bothered to call me back,” she told WKYC.
It was the same thing with the Berry family who lives in Middleburg Heights.
You may remember, they're the family that claims to be the target of recent hate crimes. Crimes which they say the City has been less than helpful with.
“I think it's more of the harassment that's been going on,” said Dawn Berry.
They say their three year old lab, Nike has been in the city pound for more than a year, after they were cited for not having vaccinations or a leash.
"It didn't make any sense because all of our neighbors knew who Nike was.They all came and played with him," said Berry.
We went to the City’s Service Department to speak with Takacs. We wanted to find out where the Berry dog was, and why they were allegedly hiding these animals.
We were referred to the City’s Law Department. They never returned our call.
Attorney Huth told us, "I place a fair amount of blame upon Middleburg Heights as a City itself for its failure to supervise and control its agents.”
Huth says she doesn't think D’Angelo’s dogs would have been returned if she hadn't filed suit.
She still plans to sue for damages. She also says she has yet another client who claims their pet was illegally seized and held by the city.
There is a lot more to this story, which we'll be following in the days ahead.