[url]http://www.newsnet5.com/news/1587122/detail.html[/url]
[b]Man Heads To Prison For Punching Police Dog[/b]
[i]Incident Stemmed From Domestic Situation[/i]
POSTED: 5:31 p.m. EDT July 31, 2002
AKRON, Ohio -- A Summit County man was sentenced Wednesday for assaulting a police dog.
NewsChannel5's Jonathan Costen reported that the incident stems from a domestic situation in May.
Officials said that Robert Dulabhan's daughter called police when she learned her father had a gun.
Apparently, when officers came to arrest the man, the police dog bit Dulabhan, 57, on the head. The dog was ordered to release his hold, and that's when Dulabhan punched the dog in the nose.
In June, Dulabhan pleaded guilty to assaulting the dog.
On Wednesday, Dulabhan learned not to hurt man's best friend, especially if it's the friend of a police officer.
Assaulting a police dog is a fourth-degree felony, and it carries a sentence of up to one year in prison.
That's exactly the sentence Dulabhan received Wednesday for slugging the police dog -- one year behind bars.
"The assault was toward a canine officer," Judge Mary Spicer said. "An officer is an officer, whether they have two legs or whether they have four legs."