Defendant whose dog was shot in altercation with sheriff pleads guilty to 3 misdemeanors
A Kirtland man who was involved in an altercation with San Juan County Sheriff Shane Ferrari in February during which the man’s dog was shot and killed has pleaded guilty to three misdemeanor charges related to the incident.
Jaime Nino pleaded guilty on Nov. 30 to petty misdemeanor charges of assault (unlawful acts, threats or conduct), careless driving and failure to obey traffic control devices for his actions during the Feb. 17 incident in Farmington. Two charges of passing in a no-passing zone against Nino were dropped by prosecutors as part of the plea agreement.
He was sentenced to six months of probation. Nino originally faced a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, along with the other charges.
“We believed it was in the best interests of all involved,” said prosecutor Michael Sanchez of the 11th Judicial District Attorney’s Office. “We consulted with the sheriff, who was the victim, and he felt it was an appropriate resolution.”
The case drew widespread interest when three video clips of the altercation between Nino and the sheriff were released several days after the incident by Farmington police. Ferrari was off duty, dressed in civilian clothes and driving his personal vehicle when he claimed he witnessed Nino driving erratically on Airport Road and Apache Street on Feb. 17. Surveillance camera video from that date appears to show Nino running a red light at the intersection of the two streets.
The sheriff said he was about to call dispatch and report the driver when he saw Nino pull into the parking lot of the Arrington Plaza shopping center at the corner of La Plata Drive and Padilla Drive. A surveillance camera perched atop a nearby building shows Ferrari pull into the parking lot behind Nino’s vehicle and the two men exiting their vehicles simultaneously. Nino advances toward Ferrari with his right hand raised while holding what appears to be a long, cylindrical object and his left hand pointed toward the sheriff, who was taking cover behind the open driver’s side door of his truck. Ferrari said he identified himself as law enforcement and drew his weapon as Nino approached him.
According to the video, the sheriff then begins to follow Nino back toward his vehicle when a dog bounds from Nino’s car and approaches Ferrari in an aggressive manner. The sheriff, who later said he felt threatened by the animal, shoots the dog three times, killing it. Nino responds by slamming the cylindrical object, later identified as a metal pipe, to the ground, then turning, gesturing and shouting at Ferrari before submitting.
Nino was not arrested after the altercation, but an arrest warrant later was issued after Farmington police investigated the incident and referred it to the D.A.’s Office for possible action.
Ferrari posted a lengthy message on his department’s Facebook page on March 1 offering a detailed description of the incident and responding to criticism of his actions by some social media users.
“I love animals,” Ferrari wrote in the post. “I take no honor, pride or humor in having to shoot this dog. I understand the dog may have been protecting his owner, but his owner was in the wrong. Therefore, he placed his dog in a bad situation.”
After reviewing the video clips of the incident, Farmington police detective Chris Stanton signed Nino’s arrest warrant affidavit, writing, “Nino appeared to be aggressive throughout the entire encounter.”
Mike Easterling can be reached at 505-564-4610 or measterling@daily-times.com. Support local journalism with a digital subscription: http://bit.ly/2I6TU0e.
This article originally appeared on Farmington Daily Times: Jaime Nino sentenced to probation after pleading guilty to assault
