FARMINGTON — On May 22, John Schwartzback fell to his knees in the yard of his mother’s house after confronting the nightmare every pet owner fears.
Two dogs who belonged to Schwartzback and his mother, Patricia Starkey, lay dead on the ground from gunshot wounds.
“They were at [Schwartzback’s girlfriend’s] birthday party at her mom’s,” Starkey said. “They came back and all the dogs are dead. He put his hands under her and screamed so loud.”
A West Virginia State Trooper shot two of the dogs Starkey owned while searching for a juvenile at Starkey’s home in Farmington. Starkey views it as a case of mistaken identity, which led to the death of both of her dogs. Starkey is trying to find some form of accountability, especially since the dogs provided her a major source of security for the area where she lives. That search is complicated by the fact one of the dogs bit a state trooper in the leg after the trooper tried to de-escalate the situation using pepper spray.
The Times West Virginian obtained records from the West Virginia State Police detailing the incident from the police’s point of view. The White Hall Police Department called them in to assist at the property. White Hall police were there to serve a search warrant for a cell phone that belonged to Schwartzback’s girlfriend.
Starkey’s property includes the main house, and a smaller structure farther away down a short road. Schwartzback and his girlfriend live in the smaller structure. The two dogs shot by police were Little Girl and Zeus. The were inside the smaller structure by themselves when police arrived.
Starkey’s daughter, Donneé Starkey, cooked a steak inside the house when police arrived. Police asked her if she cared if they searched the property, and focused their attention on the smaller structure. Donneé Starkey replied she did care, and that police needed a warrant before coming onto private property. Police began searching the property despite Donneé’s resistance. More officers started to arrive, she said. Starkey returned to her dinner when she heard a single gunshot ring out.
“It’s like, what’s going on,” she said. “I get up and then I hear maybe five or six shots, an officer screams, and five or six shots more.”
Patricia Starkey arrived home from work not long after to find Little Girl and Zeus both dead. She had more questions than answers about what transpired while she was absent. The most she could glean at the time was that officers were looking for a juvenile who officers claimed was Patricia Starkey’s grandson. Starkey was confused since her grandson was in the Army and lives in Arkansas.
“It starts with, they got me mixed up, they came to the wrong house because Shellie was living here,” Starkey said.
The records the Times West Virginian obtained from the West Virginia State Police include incident reports from both the state troopers as well as White Hall Police officers. Patrolman Michael Hinkle had been conducting an ongoing investigation into a crime involving a juvenile connected to the family. The juvenile is not related to either Schwartzback or Starkey but is the son of Schwartzback’s girlfriend. West Virginia State Trooper Robert Mabin joined Hinkle since the jurisdiction was outside of White Hall. They arrived at 896 East Run Rd. to deliver a search warrant for Schwartzback’s girlfriend’s phone, in an attempt to find the juvenile.
Hinkle wrote in his incident report that he and Mabin encountered several dogs when they arrived. To avoid any problems, they traveled to the main house and requested the dogs be contained. However, as they traveled up the driveway to the house, they spotted the juvenile operating a tiller outside the house. The juvenile fled into the tree line. Police searched to no avail, and even brought in a drone to assist.
The family disputes the juvenile was ever on the property. The report states police asked Donneé Starkey why the juvenile was there when they last told Child Protective Services the juvenile didn’t live there. Donneé Starkey said the tiller police mentioned was nonfunctional and had been for several months. Patricia Starkey told the Times West Virginian she was under the impression the juvenile didn’t live with his father until he died, and then lived with his grandparents on his mother’s side in Fairmont. If he was at her property, Starkey said she didn’t know why he was there as they had no business at her residence.
At this point, Hinkle’s report says Patricia Starkey entered the property and told police to vacate her driveway. Police complied, and decided to search around the smaller structure. Bodycam footage shows officers investigating the structure, at one point they drew their weapons while they searched. As the officers searched, Little Girl and Zeus nosed open a window and bolted out of the structure.
“Trooper Mabin said both canines charged the officers, and he was closest,” the incident report reads. “Trooper Mabin and Officer Hinkle attempted to deter the canines with pepper spray with little to no effect. Trooper Mabin explained he then took a bite to his right lower leg and was forced to shoot both canines.”
White Hall Deputy Chief Jakob Streyle wrote in his report the pepper spray stalled the dogs slightly, giving Mabin and Hinkle the chance to walk back to their cruisers to get away from the dogs. However, as Mabin started to walk back, the two dogs charged him once more.
The report states Mabin fired six times. Patricia Starkey said Little Girl had just had puppies.
“She didn’t chew him up, she bit him,” she said. “He put a bullet in the back of her head. My dog got scared and was running up the hill. He put, I think, four bullets in the back of his head running away.”
Photos show Mabin received a bite wound. He was taken to the hospital for examination.
Streyle wrote that the first dog struck did not die immediately. The second dog ran approximately 25 yards away before dying. Streyle, a West Virginia-certified canine Officer, shot the dog again to end its suffering.
“With my training and experience, it is my professional opinion that Trooper Mabin had no other choice than to discharge his firearm at the two aggressive canines,” Streyle wrote. “Multiple levels of use of force were utilized until ultimately the vicious canines were dispatched.”
However, Patricia Starkey disputes the characterization of her dogs. While the dogs were trained to attack if they saw a gun, they weren’t vicious. She characterized Zeus as a coward, and said, who would have — and did try — to run home at the first sign of trouble. Killing Zeus was completely unnecessary, she said. She expressed frustration at the police blaming the dog for what it was trained to do.
Furthermore, Starkey said the dogs were trained this way because her area has “a lot of shady characters” and she needs some form of security to keep her safe. She said people on four-wheelers constantly trespass on her property during winter and kill her deer. One group even put an arrow through her son’s dog.
“When those dogs were here, if I would scream up there, Little Girl would run out the door and run up to the house to see if I’m all right,” Starkey said. “She was the most wonderful dog. She listened on command.”
Starkey tried to conduct an investigation on her own about what had happened. Hinkle’s report states Starkey arrived before Mabin shot the dogs, however, Starkey and her daughter maintain she arrived after the incident. She spoke to the West Virginia State Police, who told her they were there at the request of another agency. Under the belief the Sheriff’s Office was involved, Starkey called Marion County Sheriff James Riffle. She said he provided an unsympathetic response to what happened. Riffle maintained that if police had probable cause to enter a property and any dogs posed a threat, police were within their right to shoot the dogs.
Riffle said he didn’t remember any such call with Starkey, but allowed for the possibility it had occurred. Regardless, he pointed out that even if the call took place it would have been irrelevant, since State Police were handling the case and his office was not involved. Riffle said he cannot comment on State Police procedure. The documents make no mention of any involvement by county law enforcement.
Calls to the West Virginia State Police and White Hall Police Chief Geno Guerrieri went unanswered.
Starkey said she’s lost everything since the incident. No lawyer has expressed interest in taking her case, with one Morgantown lawyer telling her the dogs had no value. She’s worried about leaving her remaining two dogs alone, out of fear police will come and kill them too.
Guard dogs are common in rural area. It’s not clear how police deal with that reality. After all, a dog doesn’t understand probable cause and it’s trained to only know there’s a gun.
“I can’t do it anymore,” she said. “The police have taken my help, they’ve taken my security. With all the crap going on in the world, why would they come to my house to kill my dogs? I don’t understand.”
Reach Esteban at efernandez@timeswv.com
