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Wednesday, March 27, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

Woman Says Lawyer Killed Her Dog

PORTLAND, ORE. (CN) - A Portland attorney ran over and killed a pet St. Bernard while speeding on a rural road, then called the owner and demanded money for the damage to his car, the dog's owner says.

Shirley Fitzgerald claims in Multnomah County Court that she found her dead dog shoved in a drainage culvert without its identification tags. She says attorney David Roy hit it while driving at an unsafe speed. Fitzgerald claims Roy called her twice, once to tell her he had killed her dog, and a second time to demand $1,500 for damages to his car and to threaten to report her for breaking leash laws, which he said was punishable by fines of more than $300.

Roy, a partner at Black Helterline LLP, refused to give her his driver's license and vehicle information, Fitzgerald says. She says she found hair from her dog 15 feet from the road.

"Based on Plaintiff's observations of the scene, Defendant Roy made no effort to avoid killing Plaintiff's St. Bernard as evidenced by the lack of any skid marks," the complaint states. "Moreover, given the location of the tufts of her fur and her body shoved down in the culvert, it appeared that Defendant Roy's vehicle was either on the wrong side of the road or on private property at the time of impact."

Black Helterline and firm partner James Baumgartner are also named as defendants in the case because Fitzgerald believes that Roy may have been driving a company car to or from work.

In her pro se complaint, Fitzgerald demands damages for the value of the dog for breeding and as a family pet.

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