Police report: Ralph the dog executes jail break

The Lovell Police Department received the following calls for the week of April 7-13:

April 7: 7:10 and 7:25 a.m. – Callers reported being contacted by solicitors saying they were trying to start a business and were giving away air purifiers.

7:42 a.m. – Ralph, a large Cane Corso dog, escaped the animal control shelter by first flipping the latch on his kennel and then leaving the building by hitting the door handle just right and opening the main door. A good Samaritan picked him up and returned him to the shelter.

8:51 a.m. – A Black Lab with a shock collar was reported loose on Montana Avenue. The owner was contacted and said the perimeter shock collar system had died and his son was going to come and pick up the dog.

12:28 p.m. – Dogs “barking non-stop” and being aggressive to people walking by were reported on West Main Street. The owner said the dogs would soon be moved to a family farm outside of town.

1:16 p.m. – A minor fender bender took place at the Lift hair salon on Nevada Avenue in which a white Toyota Tacoma was pulling into a parking spot and  sideswiped a Toyota Corolla. No citations were issued.

2:29 p.m. – A caller reported that his wallet had been stolen at the 4 Corners in Lovell after he left it on the counter. The bar owner looked at security camera footage and saw an older woman take the wallet and knew who she was. The theft was handled among the parties involved, and the victim of the theft did not want to press charges.

5:04 p.m. – An employee at Family Dollar called to report an incident of shoplifting, saying that two female juveniles had stolen items. As a responding officer was reviewing security camera footage, the clerk alerted the officer that the girls were back. The officer confronted the juveniles, and they confessed to the theft. They returned the items, but regional store management wished to press charges, so citations were issues.

April 8: 8:12 a.m. – The same Black Lab with the shock collar was reported loose on the grounds of Lovell Elementary School. This time the owner was given a verbal warning for dog at large.

11:48 a.m. – Two pit bulls were reported loose on Jersey Avenue. The owner had been fixing a fence, but the dogs kept finding places to escape. The owner was given a verbal warning for dog at large and having no town tags.

April 9: 1:05 a.m. – A man awakened by puppies making noise at his neighbor’s place on West Second Street checked on the puppies in a horse trailer, but the momma dog got out. He knocked on his neighbor’s door, which made the neighbor nervous, so she called the police. An officer responded, and the man explained the situation.

April 10: 11:45 a.m. – A minor fender bender was reported at North Big Horn Hospital. A driver backing out of a parking spot collided with a parked pickup. There was little to no damage to the pickup, and no citations were issued.

5:24 p.m. – A caller reported a dog on Nevada Avenue acting aggressively. The owner was contacted, and the owner said the dog had never left the property.

April 11: 2:45 a.m. – A caller reported that his Dodge Ram pickup parked on Jersey Avenue was smoking badly and shooting out flames. He said the truck seemed fine but wanted to contact police in case someone called to report a fire.

7:56 p.m. – A woman reported that her husband’s Facebook and Instagram pages had been hacked, and $5,000 was taken from the couple’s bank account. The theft was reported to the bank, and information was provided on how to prevent fraud and identity theft.

Note: The above calls were received by the Lovell Police Department. Persons arrested are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law, and charges made upon initial arrest may be amended or dismissed as determined by the County Attorney.