Docs: Muncie man’s dog was shot after he instructed it to attack a person

MUNCIE, Ind. — A Muncie man’s dog was shot after he sent it to attack a person.

According to an affidavit for probable cause filed Tuesday, officers with the Muncie Police Department were dispatched to the 1800 block of East Indiana Avenue around 1:45 p.m. on a report of shots fired.

When police arrived at the scene, they met 54-year-old Larry Lee Reed, who claimed he was the victim of a hate crime because a person shot his dog. Court documents indicate that, upon their arrival, officers also noticed Reed was very upset and yelling at all of his neighbors.

Police records show that officers had run into Reed and his large dogs in the area before. One of the officers responding to Monday’s incident reported that they were familiar with Reed and his dogs.

The officer familiar with Reed wrote that he has “large, aggressive Cane Corsos that he cannot control.” Police reported that Larry can’t fully control the dogs because he is an amputee.

According to court documents, police spoke with the person who shot Reed’s dog. The individual told police they shot the dog because Reed had instructed the animal to attack.

Reed’s neighbors corroborated the person’s story. The neighbors even told police Reed instigated the incident, yelling racial slurs at the person before commanding his dog to bite them.

The person already had a protective order against Reed. One of the reasons police arrested Reed is because he violated the order.

Court records show that Reed refused to come out and speak with officers off his property because he knew he would be arrested. To make an arrest, one officer distracted Reed while other assisting police circled around his fence to the side of his residence, where they then took him into custody without incident.

Reed has been preliminarily charged with intimidation with a deadly weapon, criminal recklessness with a deadly weapon and invasion of privacy.

According to court documents, police considered Reed’s Cane Corso a deadly weapon. In their report, officers wrote about how the American Kennel Club’s profile on Cane Corsos indicates the dogs can exceed 100 pounds and reach a height of 25 inches. The AKC also indicated that Cane Corsos are vigilant, protective and often trained as fighting or service dogs because of their strength and ability to follow commands.

The most serious of the charges Reed faces is intimidation with a deadly weapon — a Level 5 Felony. The maximum penalty for a Level 5 Felony in Indiana is a six-year prison sentence and a fine of up to $10,000.

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