Man arrested for calls about poodle barking
S. Toledoan dialed 911 about dog ... eight times
5/17/2013
Laness Mitchell, talks about her dog "Beautiful" who a neighbor claims was barking all night and so he called 911 eight times.
The Blade/Amy E. Voigt
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Laness Mitchell, talks about her dog "Beautiful" who a neighbor claims was barking all night and so he called 911 eight times.
It was man versus poodle.
Miniature poodle, to be exact, and she just would not stop barking.
That’s what South Toledo resident Timothy Hanneman, Sr., told police in multiple telephone calls to 911 on Thursday morning, according to a police report and court records.
The call takers told police that Mr. Hanneman, 49, called more than five times — Mr. Hanneman told the officers who came to his home at 12:33 a.m. that he called eight times about the small white dog across the street. He was eventually arrested on charges of improperly using 911.
In at least one of his calls to 911, Mr. Hanneman allegedly told the call taker, “I would take care of the dog myself. I will just shoot it,” according to a police report.
No one, except what sounded like a small dog, was home when a reporter went to Mr. Hanneman’s Redwood Avenue home in the Old South End on Thursday afternoon.
Laness Mitchell, 30, said she let her miniature poodle — which doesn’t yet have an official name, though her children call the dog “Beautiful” — outside at about 11:30 p.m. Wednesday night.
Laness Mitchell, holds a picture of her dog "Beautiful" who a neighbor claims was barking all night.
Beautiful had diarrhea and had defecated in the home Wednesday night, so Ms. Mitchell let the dog, which she’s had for about a week, have some fresh air before calling it a night.
About an hour later, a Toledo police officer was outside her home and asked her to take the dog inside after a neighbor complained of incessant barking.
Ms. Mitchell took the dog inside and went to bed, blissfully unaware of the battle royal still unfolding outside.
According to court documents, once police arrived and found Mr. Hanneman, he yelled and screamed at officers. The officers reported telling Mr. Hanneman he could not repeatedly call 911 to complain about the barking dog.
Mr. Hanneman reportedly yelled, “I’m not [expletive] screaming, I am just upset,” a police report states.
Police said other neighbors left their homes to “jeer” at the officers, screaming after Mr. Hanneman’s arrest that the suspect was a taxpayer and should not be arrested.
One man reportedly spit at the police, the report states.
Mr. Hanneman was charged with using 911 for anything other than obtaining an emergency service, and disorderly conduct, both misdemeanors.
He is scheduled to be arraigned today in Toledo Municipal Court.
No one else was charged.
As for Beautiful, Ms. Mitchell said she took the dog to her cousin’s house until the neighborhood settled down a bit.
Contact Taylor Dungjen at tdungjen@theblade.com, or 419-724-6054, or on Twitter @taylordungjen.