Man Gets Criminal Citation for Breaking into ‘Hot Car’ to Save 2 Dogs

After the last few summers of extreme heat and pet deaths, you would think that folks wouldn’t leave their pets in hot cars anymore. That, however, is not the case. Already this year, we’ve seen one dog die after being left inside a hot car on the Fourth of July. Richard Hill must have seen that story or one of the many countless others, which caused him to act. The Ohio man broke into a woman’s parked car to rescue two dogs from her vehicle on a warm day outside.

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While many Good Samaritans have been praised for this very act, law enforcement didn’t agree and it’s a matter of who said what.

Richard Hill’s Point of View

Pets In Hot Cars Ohio Man Cited
Facebook: Richard Hill

Richard Hill took to Facebook to post the story in his own words, saying,

PLEASE READ WHOLE THING AS I ADDED AN UPDATE THANK YOU………..

Ok so I went to Walmart today noticed 2 dogs one of which was just a tiny pup maybe 2-3 months old locked in a car with it being 79° at that time. the alarm was going off due to the older dog jumping around setting it off. wasnt till the 3rd time the alarm went off that I went to see what was going on.

So I decided to walk over to the car which at this point other people were already over there the puppy just laying there not moving just laying ther trying to get its attention but it just laid there he was not passed out at that moment.

one of the bystanders called parma police they said someone was in route at this point I didnt know how long they would take to get there the dogs have already been in the hot car for atleast 30mins I know this cause I heard the alarm when I first got there but ignored it thinking nothing of it.I was in there atleast 30mins or more.

so the was police were called I made the decision at that point to break the window as I felt they needed out right then and there well to say the least parma felt differently the officee said I needed to wait for him so i am being charged with criminal damage. ow and also the owner of the car didnt come out of Walmart until 15mins after the police showed up and they never received a ticket nothing plz tell me how this is fair.

Plz share I want everyone to see this cause this is bs this right here is why they have the Goddard law I guess not. This right here is why so many people are afraid to do anything and just continue to walk to afraid they will get in trouble trying to do the right thing smh……

UPDATE ok i would first like to thank everyone for your support. at no point did i think this post would get to this point. but im glade that it has as my main intent was to just bring awareness and clerification to the law. first off i need to clerify a few things

#1 the sunroof was not open idc what they are claiming if that were the case i would have climbed in or atleast grabed a stick.

#2 at no point did i say that i knew 100% how long the dogs had been in that car i was goin based on the very first alarm i heard. yes it turns out i was mistaken on the time period but none the less im glad i seen them because yes the small puppy needed out of that car i know what i seen and if any of you seen what i seen you would have done the same thing. even withthe results today i still stand behind everything .

my goal puttuing this up was to not get praised or pitty nor to get out of trouble as i know ive done nothing wrong. also i am being asked to add this on here a local group her in lorain ohio the community animal task force created this for me thank you……. https://www.gofundme.com/legal-fees-for-man-who-saved-2-dogs i will keep everyone updated as we get closer…..

He’s asking for donations to his legal fees to fight the case after a local animal task force created the GoFundMe page. That link can be found here.

Law Enforcement’s Take

Pets In Hot Cars

So what is the police department claiming? As Cleveland.com reports, the Parma man broke into the car when it was around 78 degrees outside. It’s also important to note that in other circumstances, this would have been protected under certain circumstances by an Ohio law known as Senate Bill 215, or Ohio’s “Hot Car” legislation.

Hill broke into the car with a hammer from his work van to try and save the pups, with local police arriving only moments later from a 911 call. Law enforcement cited him for criminal damages, which led to Hill taking to Facebook to state his belief that he was well within his rights through the state law.

Surveillance footage obtained shows that the dogs were only in the car for about six minutes. Cleveland.com reports that the dogs’ owner pulled into the parking lot and left the vehicle at 4:06 p.m. and Hill broke the window at 4:12 p.m.

The real kicker? Ohio’s law doesn’t specify if the Good Samaritan should wait until the police arrive. They only need to see if the door is unlocked and prove they felt it was an emergency. Hill told Cleveland.com, “I didn’t know how long it was going to be for [police] to get here, and I truly felt that the puppy needed out. I’ve had to wait for police before and know that it can take 15, 20 minutes, or more than a half hour.”

Hill will fight the charges. Do you think he did the right thing?

This post was originally published on August 3, 2018.

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