Dori: If judge had kept alleged dog thief in jail, he would still be alive

By now, I’m sure you’ve heard the story of Monkey the poodle, who was stolen with a nearly brand-new truck from a gas station in Black Diamond on Friday. Thankfully, Monkey was reunited with his loving owners, but the alleged dog thief was fatally shot by officers after leading police on a chase on Monday.

Now that the stolen dog is safe, the story shifts dramatically. Now we need to talk about how unbelievably messed up our judicial system is.

I’m so infuriated at this story. The man who stole this truck and dog was allegedly the same man who was in custody just 13 days ago with a $5,000 bond. Anthony Chilcott, 36, has no known address. He’s a vagrant who has been walking around Black Diamond pretty much his whole adult life. Everybody in town knows who this guy is, as we’ve been hearing.

This suspected dog thief violently resisted arrest less than a month ago, according to Black Diamond Police Commander Larry Colagiovanni. He caused thousands of dollars of damage to a police vehicle, and cops had to use a Taser to restrain him.

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This judge decided to ignore the $5,000 bond on Chilcott. The judge let this guy walk free on personal recognizance. Chilcott was supposed to be in court on Tuesday of this week. Did the judge really think Chilcott was going to show up to his court date?

The judge knew this suspect’s long, violent criminal history, and could have easily predicted that this man would go on to commit more crimes once being set free.

And sure enough, less than two weeks later, he was clearly identified through surveillance video as stealing a truck with a dog inside of it.

We heard from the dog’s owner that the suspect dragged the detectives down the street with the truck. That is assault with a deadly vehicle.

What would have happened if, during the two high-speed chases that occurred Monday, an innocent person driving down the road had been wiped out by this violent dog thief? He was in an incredibly powerful Ford F-150 Raptor. If someone had been hurt, would they have been able to sue the judge who let him walk free?

The answer is no. Our legal system gives judges tremendous protection for the consequences of the decisions they make.

Does the judge feel guilty over this suspect’s death? Or is the judge so wrapped up in their liberal activism that they actually believe they did the right thing 13 days ago when they put this violent guy back out on the streets? This guy walked free … right to his death.

Does the judge pause and reflect and think, “If I had kept this guy locked up on the $5,000 bond, he’d be a lot safer now?” Or will they high-five their fellow activist judges as they follow their social justice agenda?

I would love to talk to one of these judges. But they never talk to us.

There was a big story in the Seattle Times on Monday that the Seattle City Council is going to push for letting more criminals who commit property crimes walk free. What about getting help for all the victims? When are we going to have a legal system that cares about the victims one-fiftieth to the extent that it cares about the criminals?

These activist judges want to rehabilitate people rather than punish them. People ask me, should the justice system be about rehabilitation or punishment? It should be about both. If we send a message that you will not be punished when you commit crimes, you will keep committing crimes. If we are interested in rehabilitation, then that needs to come at the end of the punishment. But we have to get back to the idea that there are consequences for your actions.

This guy should have gotten a year or two in jail if convicted of resisting arrest and vandalizing the police vehicle. And then at the end of that year or two, we should have offered him every service available. But bypassing punishment and going straight to services is not working. Just look at what is happening on the streets around here.

Please spare some of your prayers for the cops involved, who had to fire their weapons. Cops don’t ever want to shoot. And they have to live with the consequences of making life-or-death decisions.

A judge put those cops in that unimaginable situation.

We have to keep the pressure on.

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