Dog News

Pit Bull Stops Serial Burglar

by Melanie

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5.11.13 Dog Stops Burglar
stock photo

 

Police in Pittsfield, Massachusetts believe that a pit bull-type dog deterred a burglar from stealing home on Thursday.

The suspect, 51-year-old Akkoya T. Salahudeed, formerly known as Jeffrey L. Dowdell, allegedly entered a home while the owner was out.  Police were alerted by witnesses who saw the man scale the fence from an adjacent cemetery and enter the residence.  They could hear the dog barking.  Moments later, the man fled the home, brandishing a snow brush.

Police think “the suspect used the snow brush to keep the pit bull dog at bay.”  They concluded that nothing else had been taken.  Within minutes, Salahudeen was captured in the cemetery.  He told police he hadn’t been on the street where the break-in occurred; he was visiting his mother’s grave.

This is not Salahudeen’s first brush with the law; he has convictions stemming back to 1988, when he was found guilty of indecent assault and batter on a person over 14.  In October 2011, he pleaded guilty to a break-in he committed in June 2010, and was sentenced to 18 months.  He is also a level 3 sex offender, and the state classifies him as a level 3 offender, meaning that he has a high rate of recidivism.

He is currently being held on $3,000 bail and is due back in court in June.