A Friendship man allegedly stole his friend’s dog, then fired shots at the man when he confronted him to get back his pet.
MacKenzie C.J. Whitehall, 22, was arrested Tuesday on charges of burglary, theft, reckless conduct with a dangerous weapon and criminal mischief. Whitehall appeared in court Wednesday afternoon, where a judge set his bail at $1,000 cash.
On the evening of Feb. 1, Whitehall and two other men allegedly went out to dinner and then to a bar in Rockland. While the three men were out, Whitehall left his dog at the Cushing home of one of the men, whose dog was also in the home at the time, according to an affidavit filed by Knox County Sheriff’s detective Justin Twitchell.
Whitehall left the bar before the two other men. When the Cushing man returned to his home later that night, he found his front door kicked in and both of the dogs gone, according to police. Whitehall allegedly sent the man a video while driving back to his house, showing that he had both dogs.
After discovering that Whitehall had his dog, the man had someone drive him to Whitehall’s home in Friendship. When the two men arrived at Whitehall’s home, he allegedly fired three shots from a handgun toward the Cushing man’s feet, according to the affidavit.
After the allegedly stolen dog came running out of Whitehall’s home, its owner took the dog and left.
Whitehall told police that he took the dog because he didn’t know when its owner would be arriving home and was “concerned” about the animal. He also denied firing a gun at the dog’s owner when he came to get the purportedly purloined pooch and denied owning a handgun altogether. Whitehall said that he threw firecrackers at the ground.
However, Twitchell found ammunition for a handgun in his home. Whitehall was also pulled over the following day for a traffic stop in Rockland, and when patted down by the officer stated that he usually carries a handgun, according to the affidavit.
Whitehall also denied kicking down the man’s front door and said that he gained entry through the backdoor, though police found that door to be locked.