Taking Pet Puts Officer in Doghouse

October 26, 2007

A North Miami police sergeant faces discipline after she briefly took home Barbie, the dog of a murder suspect.

A North Miami police sergeant is facing suspension after she briefly took in and cared for a murder suspect's dog to keep the pet from being euthanized at the county shelter — nearly three years ago.

The Shetland sheepdog named Barbie belonged to George Perales, 38, who in 2004 was charged with murdering his pal, stuffing him in a suitcase, and dumping the corpse near the Everglades.

A few days after his arrest, Barbie was returned to his family. Perales is awaiting trial and has a court hearing on Monday.

North Miami Sgt. Donna Clarke told investigators she took Barbie home because of "humanitarian concerns" —at an earlier unrelated homicide scene, a white Maltese dog had been taken and euthanized by Miami-Dade County Animal Services.

Clarke is appealing her three-day suspension. Detective Steve Melvin, facing a one-day suspension for helping Clarke care for the dog, is also appealing.

"The entire investigation is a waste of resources. It is ridiculous because Sgt. Clarke had no intention of doing anything but protecting the life of this animal," said her attorney, Jon Rosenthal.

Even though the dog incident happened in 2004, the police department — at the direction of then-Chief Gwendolyn Boyd — did not investigate until April of this year, when the allegation surfaced during another internal affairs probe involving Clarke and Melvin.

According to police, Perales, Pedro Gonzalez and two other friends gathered at his apartment, 2350 NE 135th St., to watch the Miami Dolphins play New England in a Monday night football game.

An argument erupted. Perales left the room and returned with a handgun equipped with a home-made silencer, police say.

He shot and killed Gonzalez. Over the next two days, Perales took the other friends, one a woman, hostage and forced them to clean the crime scene. He also raped the woman, police said.

INTERNAL AFFAIRS

His dog did not become an issue until this year, when Clarke and Melvin were investigated by North Miami's internal affairs office over a missing champagne bottle.

In May, the department announced Clarke and Melvin faced suspension for taking the bottle from the car of a homicide victim and giving it to firefighters as a gift in January.

A crime-scene technician, Sharon Plotkin, was also disciplined for removing items from the car. During the investigation, she told internal affairs Lt. Joe LaPorte about Clarke and the dog.

LaPorte reported the dog allegation to Chief Boyd, who ordered him to investigate. The city fired Boyd earlier this month. She could not be reached for comment Thursday.

During the investigation, LaPorte interviewed 13 police employees, including Clarke, who worked on the Perales case. Many of them could not remember specifics about Barbie.

Laporte also called Animal Services, which confirmed police never called for a pick-up of the dog after Perales' arrest.

Speaking in general, Animal Services spokeswoman Xiomara Mordcovich said dogs picked up at request of police are kept for 10 days. Then, the county decides whether the animal is healthy enough for adoption or should be put down.

LaPorte also interviewed Perales' former girlfriend, who said she bought Barbie at Puppy Palace in 1998.

He also interviewed the kidnapped and raped woman, who later called Miami-Dade Assistant State Attorney David Waksman. He is prosecuting Perales.

Wakeman called LaPorte. He said the dog probe could "jeopardize the pending [Perales] trial," according to the internal affairs report.

The prosecutor told LaPorte that he had learned about the dog shortly after the arrest.

"He thought Sgt. Clarke acted appropriately when she returned the dog to the Per-ales family when they resurfaced," Miami-Dade state attorney's office spokesman Ed Griffith said this week.

Despite Waksman's reservations, Boyd agreed the investigation should continue — but interviews would be limited to police employees.

But soon LaPorte realized that to conduct a thorough investigation, he needed to speak to Perales' mother.

"I explained my concerns of thoroughness regarding the dog's status and the need to verify the whereabouts of the dog," he wrote in his report.

But the chief again stressed that he talk only with employees.

LaPorte never confirmed Barbie's whereabouts. He also found that the homicide victim, Gonzalez, had a sheltie or collie named Elvis who was never seen again after the shooting.

Rene Sotorrio, Perales' defense attorney, did not return phone calls from The Miami Herald on Thursday.

AT THE SCENE

When LaPorte interviewed Clarke, she said Barbie had been inside Perales' apartment "contaminating a crime scene." Blood coated her paws.

Still wary of the euthanized Maltese seven months earlier, Clarke — who was not directly overseeing the investigation — drove Barbie to the police station as Per-ales was being interviewed on the third floor.

Clarke owns two shelties, named Cody and Crystal.

She did not ask that Perales make arrangements to have someone pick up the dog at the station, LaPorte found.

"So she took the sheltie home for several days, fed and cleaned it, and asked Detective Steve Melvin if he would watch it until a family member responded to the station and claimed it," the internal affairs report said.

"Detective Melvin agreed to take care of the dog while Sergeant Clarke was on vacation in Chicago," the report said.

Melvin, who did not work on the case, returned Barbie a few days later, when Perales' mother came to the station to pick up the dog.

"Upon Detective Melvin's arrival at the station, the sheltie made a beeline for the woman," the report said.

In August, a panel of police brass concluded Clarke and Melvin failed to fill out proper paperwork in taking and returning property, meaning Barbie.

Clarke was also guilty of using "poor judgment and acted in a manner that could adversely affect the integrity of the homicide investigation," they concluded. North Miami's police union is representing Melvin.

"We don't think Steve has done anything wrong. The discipline was handed out by the previous chief, and we didn't agree with it," union President Peter Cruz said. "We felt it was an unfair decision."