Utahn headed to prison for shooting, killing Unified police dog

Dingo, a 7-year-old Belgian Malinois with the Unified Police Department, was shot and killed in 2017 while helping U.S. Marshals take a wanted fugitive into custody. | Unified Police Department

‘Dingo genuinely became a part of my own self,’ handler says.

SALT LAKE CITY — A West Jordan parolee convicted of shooting and killing a Unified police dog during a chase in 2017 has been ordered to at least 11 years and up to life in prison.

Torey Massey, 31, of West Jordan, showed little emotion Monday as a judge read his sentence for the death of Dingo, a 7-year-old Belgian Malinois who was nearing retirement.

“Dingo genuinely became a part of my own self, and in losing him, a part of me was lost as well,” the dog’s handler, Chad Reyes, said during the sentencing hearing.

Reyes, now deputy chief of the Herriman Police Department, held back tears while on the stand in Massey’s trial in April as he recalled finding the dog with bullet wounds and rushing him to a Millcreek hospital. Prosecutors argued that Massey, wanted on warrants, gave Reyes a taunting smirk before firing several rounds after the K-9 lunged at him and the two tumbled down a steep slope on July 6, 2017.

“As far as everyone in this courtroom is concerned, he shot a police officer that night,” said prosecutor Andrew Deesing. If Dingo hadn’t been there, Deesing said he believed Masey would likely have shot an officer.

A shackled Massey wore a white prison uniform and glasses and issued a brief apology to Reyes.

“I took his friend, his partner,” Massey said. “He may not forgive me but I hope one day he does.”

Defense attorney Charles Corry said Massey has schizophrenia. At the time of Dingo’s death, he had stopped taking his medications and was using drugs.

“I think he definitely had difficulty understanding what was taking place,” Corry said, though he added Massey now understands the weight of what he did.

A jury returned guilty verdicts against Massey in April after about two hours of deliberation.

He was convicted of two counts of possession of a firearm by a restricted person, a first-degree felony; and killing a police service animal, a third-degree felony. He was also found guilty of two counts of failing to stop at an officer’s command. Prosecutors dismissed other charges of drug possession and theft charges, in part because the burglary victim moved out of the country.

Aldo, another Unified police K-9 that was slain in 2016, and Dingo inspired lawmakers last year to strengthen penalties for killing police service dogs. The offense is now a second-degree felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison. Reyes said lawmakers in other states, including Florida, have also toughened the penalty in recent years.

This story will be updated.

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