Roswell Daily Record
Vol. 124, No. 133 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
June 4, 2015
Thursday
www.rdrnews.com
City, county, rescuers sued in dog mauling case
By Jeff Tucker record STaff WriTer
The parents of the boy who was attacked by pit bull terrier-mixed dogs last summer that had been released from the Roswell dog pound have sued the city of Roswell, Chaves County, local animal rescue groups and individuals implicated in the attack that reportedly left the boy physically and emotionally scarred. The lawsuit filed by Jeff and Keisha Prince seeks unspecified damages for the June 11 dog mauling of then-9-year-old Colby Prince. Ò Thankfully, his inju-
ries were not life-threatening, which isnÕ t to say they werenÕ t severe,Ó Roswell attorney Doug Jones Witt said Monday. Jones Witt is representing the Prince family in the lawsuit, which was filed May 11 in Fifth Judicial District Court in Roswell. The defendants had 30 days from receiving their summons to respond to the lawsuit. No trial date has yet been set. The lawsuit states the vicious nature of the pit bulls was known, and the dogs should not have been released by Roswell Animal Control Services to pose a danger to others.
Colby was attacked by two or three of the dogs the morning of June 11 while at his home in the 5000 block of Vista Lane, outside Roswell city limits. Jeff Prince has said his adventurous son no longer wishes to play outdoors. Ò (Colby) Prince suffered bites, scratches, gouges and other personal injuries to his face, throat, leg and body, which required immediate medical attention,Ó the lawsuit states. Two Roswell women were subsequently criminally charged in connection to the dog mauling. Janice C. Ensconatus was charged with three petty misdemeanor charges
of dogs running/found at large. Ensconatus pleaded no contest to the three charges Jan. 14 in Chaves County Magistrate Court. Ensconatus was sentenced by Chaves County Magistrate Judge Pat Casados to 182 days of unsupervised release for each of the three charges, with the sentences to run concurrently. Ensconatus was not fined, although she was ordered to pay $179 in court costs. In addition, Ensconatus pleaded no contest Aug. 26 to a charge of operating a kennel without a license. She was assessed fines and court fees in that case. Sammye S. LaFlar,
the operator of the Roswell-based canine rescue group Doggy Saviors, was charged with three petty misdemeanor counts of dogs running/found at large and three misdemeanor counts of failure to vaccinate dogs. LaFlar was acquitted by a six-person jury on all charges after a day-long trial on Feb. 13. Jeff Prince testified at LaFlarÕ s trial. He said he found his son stripped of his shirt and shoes by the attacking dogs and with tattered pants, perched atop the railing of a horse corall as the attacking pit bulls stood on their hind legs and attempted to resume the attack on his
son. Jeff Prince said Colby was performing morning chores when the dogs attacked, inflicting several lacerations and punctures to the boyÕ s upper body, including his throat. Jeff Prince, a detective for the Roswell Police Department, said he did not hesitate to shoot two of the dogs with his service weapon, one of whom was killed at the scene and one of whom ran from the scene with a shoulder injury and was later shot and killed by an animal control officer. A third dog with blood See MAULING, Page A3
New Mexico Senior Olympics open in Roswell Max Scally Record Correspondent Photos The New Mexico Senior Olympics 2015 summer games opening ceremony took place Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the New Mexico Military Institute Alumni Park. The ceremony included a parade of athletes, the presentation of colors by the New Mexico National Guard and the national anthem performed by Mindy Tanner. There was also the recognition of athletes. Patsy Boyd, 97, from Espano-
la, was recognized as the eldest athlete. Jean Duncan, from Alamogordo, and Nick Blea, from Los Lunas, were recognized as outstanding female golden athlete and outstanding male golden athlete, respectively. Top Photo: From left, Barbra McKenzie, from Clovis, Nick Blea, Jim Lilley, from Roswell, and Lisa Hunter, from Ruidoso partipated in opening ceremony torch run. Bottom Photo: Senior Olympic athletes from Chaves County.
Names are released in Bottomless Lakes case STaff reporT The New Mexico State Police have released the names of those involved in TuesdayÕ s fatal car versus pedestrian accident at Bottomless Lakes State Park. According to a NMSP press release, 2-year-old Azriel Lucero was run over by the rear driverÕ s side tire of a vehicle driven by a 15-year-old girl who had a learnerÕ s permit. The accident occured around 4:30 p.m. Capt. Lance Bateman said Tuesday that lifeguards from the Lea Lake swimming area attempt-
ed to perform CPR on the child, but when emergency crews arrived, the boy was deceased. Ò The sequence of events leading up to this incident are still under investigation,Ó police said. The girl, and possibly her parents have citations pending against them, Bateman said, for not having a fully licensed driver in the vehicle. The Roswell Daily Record editorial staff has decided not to publish the name of the underage driver.
Captain Jackson on a new mission in Arkansas STaff reporT An excited group of people, including staff and young people from Assurance Home, delivered a special gift to a therapeutic riding program in Little Rock, Arkansas, on May 26. The gift was a well-trained and gentle therapeutic riding horse named Captain Jackson. Assurance Home is a therapeutic group home for homeless and at-risk adolescent children located in Roswell. In March 2014, Assurance Home adopted a captured mustang from Canyon City, Colorado. They named the Ò green brokeÓ Captain Jackson for the Jackson
Mountains range where he was captured and began working to gentle him. After months of work, Assurance Home chose a program in Little Rock, called Hearts & Hooves, to be the recipient of their loving gift. Hearts & Hooves works with many different groups of handicapped individuals providing hippotherapy and therapeutic riding opportunities for special clients. The staff and kids at Assurance Home were especially excited that Hearts & Hooves had a veterans program that helps those who protected our freedom. Ron Malone, Assurance See MISSION, Page A2
Today’s ForecasT
Today’s obiTuaries Page a6
HIGH 97 LOW 65
• Stephen hannon • Jodene Sandon Mulliken • ViVian a. SMith
Submitted Photo
Lee Kyser, the head of the Assurance Home horse program, and Captain Jackson, a mustang that Assurance Home trained to become a therapy horse, in front of a sign made to welcome Captain Jackson into a therapeutic riding program in Little Rock, Arkansas, called Hearts & Hooves.
index cLASSifiedS ..........B6 cOmicS .................B5 finAnciAL .............B4 GenerAL...............A2
hOrOScOpeS.........A8
OpiniOn ................A4
LOtterieS .............A2
SpOrtS .................B1
nAtiOn..................A6
WeAther ..............A8