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Published:Friday, November 14, 2008
Steve Croley
Tom Siesto and his wife, Liz Raab with a tin containing Nitro’s ashes. The Rottweiler weighed 50 pounds when cremated; he weighed 105 pounds when taken to High Caliber K-9 in late June for obedience training. His owners said they paid more than $2,000 up front for the training and dropped him off with more than three months’ food and vitamins.
Defendant Steve Croley must come to trial next month with a financial statement.
YOUNGSTOWN — A New York man whose dog, Nitro, starved to death at High Caliber K-9 held up a small decorative tin in municipal court and shouted, “Here’s Nitro!”
The tin contains Nitro’s ashes. The Rottweiler weighed 50 pounds when cremated; he weighed 105 pounds when taken to High Caliber K-9 in late June for obedience training. His owners said they paid more than $2,000 up front for the training and dropped him off with more than three months’ food and vitamins.
Steve Croley, who is accused of starving dogs at the Coitsville-Hubbard Road business, didn’t turn around at the outburst in the court’s gallery Thursday. He stared straight ahead during the commotion.
Judge Robert A. Douglas ordered Nitro’s owners, Tom Siesto and his wife, Liz Raab, who was crying loudly, to leave the courtroom. The judge warned those who remained to keep quiet.
Croley, 37, who resided at the business he operated, was in court for a pretrial hearing. He is charged with noxious odors, an exterior property violation and four counts of animal cruelty.
Two security guards were positioned in court out of concern that the proceeding might be disrupted. Several animal lovers who came to support Nitro’s owners cried softly but there were no further outbursts.
Judge Douglas set the trial for Dec. 18. He ordered that Croley come with a financial statement.
When taken into custody Oct. 22, Croley told a representative of Animal Charity, a humane agency on South Avenue, that he could not afford to feed the animals. Seven dead and 12 starving dogs were found at the business.
High Caliber K-9 offered kenneling, obedience and guard dog training. Since the arrest, dog owners have come forward to say they paid Croley in advance.
After court, Siesto and Raab, both 50, said they will be back for Croley’s trial. The couple lives in Queens, N.Y.
Holding the tin, Siesto said he wants to let people know how the poor animals at High Caliber K-9 suffered.
“This man did this,” Siesto said of Croley. “I’m very disappointed today. I thought this monster would have admitted what he did — he’s a coward.”
Of the dead dogs, Raab said: “We’re their voices.”
Croley was kept in a back room next to Judge Douglas’ court until the hallway cleared. Guards directed people away from the elevator, reserving it for Croley and his attorney, Heidi Hanni.
A red SUV picked Croley and Hanni up in front of the courts’ building on Boardman Street.
Croley was originally arrested on 19 counts of animal cruelty, but only four were actually filed. City Prosecutor Jay Macejko determined that the High Caliber K-9 property was illegally entered by representatives of Animal Charity, who used bolt cutters to cut a fence. The four counts relate to dogs seen before the fence was breached. The prosecutor said had he been called, he would have obtained a search warrant.
meade@vindy.com
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The honor and dignity that was stripped away from these precious animals has to be restored. Everyone that is in this fight is bringing it back to their them. For those that cannot speak for themselves...as Liz said "we're their voices". We must be loud, persistent and unwavering in this fight. Some would want to see this swept under the carpet, some would say...they are only animals. Others would say "get over it"...of course those are the ones that have never experienced the unconditional love of a dog.
Maybe Dec 18 we will get some answers even though the answers will not bring back Nitro or any of the others dogs that were killed. I encourage those that havent written a letter to the prosecutor and judge to do so. They have to hear the outcry, they must be convinced of the seriousness of this case. We must be heard.
you would think nirto was the only dog that suffered from this article
Dr. Dave: From the article:
"Seven dead and 12 starving dogs were found at the business."
"Of the dead dogs, Raab said: 'We’re their voices.' ”
While Nitro's owners were the only ones tossed out of the courtroom for making a scene, I think a reasonable read of this article and all of the ones The Vindicator has published thus far have made the magnitude of the case quite clear.
Is this all??
Is this ALL that happened to that swine at this hearing???
So this monster is free to enjoy the next month of his life still??
Geez...MAY HE ROT IN HELL. It's a damn pity he is only 37 as I would dearly love his rotting to start ASAP!!!!
I was in court yesterday and I can tell you that Liz did nothing wrong, she cried! The judge was way out of line as far as I am concerned. This article portrays them as though they did something wrong. There was no scene by Nitro's parents. The judge and prosecutor made the scene.
This article does not even mention the fact that after she cried and was screamed at to GET OUT, she APOLOGIZED and was yelled at again to GET OUT. Then and only then did Tom say here is nitro.
In this article it says Liz was crying loudly, Bullsh*t it was not louder than a cough or a sneeze. They were disrespected like I have never seen before.
I was at the hearing yesterday. Liz cried and even looked at the judge and said she was sorry and the Judge looked at her and said Get Out. Only then did Tom say here's Nitro as he held up his boy. Tom was permitted back into the court room for the remainder of the hearing. Wouldn't you have cried? Where is the compassion here? Tom and Liz are wonderful good people, law abiding citizens and passionate animal lovers. I applaud them for being the voices of not only their boy but for all of the animals involved. This article implies they acted like street thugs. I spoke to Liz in the hallway and walked with them to their car, we all left peacefully.
I was also at the hearing yesterday, what went on there was a crime of justice by the judge and prosecutor. A women is crying and the judge orders her out even after she said she was sorry and was trying to compose herself. What her husband said, he was provoked by the judge he was already being ordered to leave, so why not tell them how you feel. I believe this was already orchestrated by the judge and the prosecutor days in advance. Funny how the husband was allowed back but not the wife, why because she was showing emotions? That is what the judge and prosecutor do not want people to see or hear how these dog owners feel.
I hope they stick the bastard in a cell and not feed him for 3 months.
Why would the judge want a financial statement? Does that make it okay to starve an animal to death if you don't have the money!
This is so disheartening to read! Unfortunately, this goes on much more than we even know! People who are cruel to animals, obviously have some serious, deep rooted, self confidence issues! I am saddened to hear this and would protest and or sign a petition for justice to be served!
I think it's a shame that Liz was thrown out of the courtroom. Of course she is emotional, who wouldn't be?
Her dog along with others are dead, and for no apparent reason. If Steve didn't have the money he could have asked for help, or better yet, contact the owners of the dog and ask them to come and get their dog.
Is there a petition or letter somewhere that can be signed?
I am APPALLED and absolutely DISGRACED with this article, Judge Douglass, Macejko, Croley, and importantly MY CITY of Youngstown! I was at this pretrial from 10am and it was VERY OBVIOUS to ANYone with a brain what was going on.
Here are the FACTS as to what happened starting at 11:00am on November 13th: the judge and prosecutors appointed 2 security guards for the 1115am pretrial of Steven Croley. At around 11:05am the family from NY arrived (2 women, 2 men all dressed in suits) into the courtroom. They sat down, making no noise whatsoever. At around 11:10am one of the women saw Croley and started to cry on the man's shoulder. Not even a few seconds later, the oh-so-HONORABLE Judge Douglass started to say how this was unacceptable, at the same time the women was able to muster out an apology. But still Douglass ordered her to "GET OUT". At that point one of the men got angry with the Judges orders and THEN said to Croley "here is nitro" (since they were getting kicked out anyway I am assuming). From what one of the security guards told me after the trial, the man WAS allowed back in the court and the women (WHO WAS CRYING) was NOT. If she did go back in, she would have been arrested for contempt. Let me get this straight--women cries in court after seeing her son's (dog's)murderer; if she walks back into court she gets arrested, jailed for 30 days and fined. Croley KILLS 12 or 13 dogs, starves half a dozen more, tears apart families and gets less then THAT? ?????????WHAT IS WRONG WITH OUR CITY/STATE/SOCIETY???????
I am DISGUSTED with how Judge Douglass is handling this case. To think MY TAX DOLLARS ARE PAYING FOR THIS BULLSH*T is incredible. Of course Heidi gets on the case, Croley gets a beautiful suit for court (I hear he has been going to soup kitchens)and this case gets shoved under the rug (just like her father!)
Any person with ANY brain could see and hear that the Judge, prosecutor and defense attorneys had every step of the pre-trial planned out and it was obvious that the family that traveled from NY would be kicked out of the courtroom even before the trial started. SINCE WHEN IS CRYING NOT ALLOWED IN A COURTROOM JUDGE DOUGLASS? Maybe if it was your daughter or son who was killed, maybe then you would have allowed your wife to cry in the courtroom. Of course you would have...I am DISGUSTED. I know where my next votes are NOT going...
It's a shame people can't get this fired up about all the robbery, arson and murder going on in the area...keep playing the fiddle while the Valley burns.
"I was in court yesterday and I can tell you that Liz did nothing wrong, she cried! The judge was way out of line as far as I am concerned. This article portrays them as though they did something wrong. There was no scene by Nitro's parents. The judge and prosecutor made the scene."
....animallover, reading between the lines this is EXACTLY what I had thought, and I am left even more disgusted with the whole situation and VERY disillusioned with this judge!!!!
And to Jefflebowski....these people you refer to, do at least get a fair trial and get the chance to speak up for themselves.
What chance do dogs get??
Is it no less murder to you, just because it is dogs and not humans??
Can you not see the horror of this act??
And if this monster Croley goes free, who's to say HE won't be the next one to be discharging his weapons and attacking human life by arson???
It won't stop at dogs, you know.
Dittodots and Thea:
There is a petition on this website: Nitro Foundation:
http://www.nitrofoundation.com/index.htm...
Please do sign it.
Please also look at the letters section and if possible, send letters to the relevant people.
It may not be too late to do this, even though this judge seems blind to human emotion.
We can still all hope and pray for him to have a change of heart and a little human compassion, before this is all over.
When are criminals going to be treated like criminals and the victims treated like victims. It is totally disgusting the way Liz and Tom were treated. What are the judge and prosecutor afraid of???? Are the judges in Youngstown elected into office?... Maybe the citizens of this district needs to clean house and put some judges that will see that you cant dictate who can be in court and who cant just because they are emotional. Ive served on jury duty and even the defense attorney cried...she wasnt thrown out of court. Looks to me like the judge, prosecutor and defense attorney had an agenda. Shame on you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Not knowing that this person that was in front of me at the security desk yesterday with the ashes of Nitro, my heart goes out to them and their family. People say "it's only a pet". When you have a pet they become a part of your family. Apparently the judge has never had a pet from the sound of what took place in that court room. It's a shame that other pet owners were not their to state their claim. Even if he's not a pet owner, anyone with a heart would understand the hurt these families are going thru.
I was also at the pre-trial yesterday. As a citizen of Youngstown I was embarrassed at how Liz and Tom were treated by Judge Douglass. One of the counts Judge Douglass threw out earlier was Nitro's death. Surely he knew they would be there, ala the security guards. Maybe he couldn't deal with their response to his ruling? It was a 16 hour drive roundtrip for Liz and Tom to be at the trial. Shame on you Judge Douglass.
Hey does anyone know if the other 6 dog owners have come forward? Do they even know the fate of their animals. There hasn't been any mention of the other owners at all. This whole case is disgusting and I hope he has to look Liz and Tom in the eye and tell them why at his trial. Still doesn't excuse the fact of what he did. HEY STEVE I'm poor and don't have any money, but still feeding my 3 dogs!!!!
Well if I were THAT poor, I would sleep on the streets and beg, if necessary. But I would have my dog with me!! and she would get decent food and water even if I had to live on scraps.
Lilly, I read somewhere else somebody's comment who has been in touch with the shelter that took the dogs, and I believe 3 were returned to their parents, one to another trainer, and one has definitely been euthanised :-(
Of the rest, I haven't heard anything.
I presume the details are not being too divulged because of the court case pending. It is already dicey as to what they will decide to convict Croley for - if anything!! :-( - and I guess those caring for the dogs are unwilling to prejudice a decision and cause it to tip the wrong way; but I too hope that by now, ALL the furparents have been traced.
Hey does anyone know if Judge Douglass has any pets? I don't think so, the way he treated those people from New York. I don't think he has a heart! I am so angry at him. Everyone should come on Dec. 18, 2008 and cry in court and show Judge Douglass what pets mean to families! How can he be so COLD to them. Douglass will have to answer to his and the dogs MAKER THE LORD! He will get his at the gates of heaven. Douglass and Croley will be buddies in HELL! Riot in HELL the both of you. Voice of the Animals
They were Steve's dogs. So, there are no other 6 Owners to come forward.
To Tripodziphany,
How do You know about the soup kitchens in Alliance? Have You been there also?
Does the Vindicator know that the same reporter covering this story is also posting on the discussion board? I would think that it is a conflict of interest.
The Humane Agents broke into the kennel illegally and let the news crew in also. Since they broke in illegally, they put words into Steve Croley's Mouth saying" Times were tough, I didn't have the money to feed the Dogs". He never said that, as a matter of fact He had alot of Bil-jac in His fridge. He's an animal lover.He would feed His dogs before Himself. No one is realizing that Dogs can die from things other than starvation. I guess that was overlooked.
What She forgot to post was that Her Dog Nitro was At High Caliber K9 to be evaluated whether He needed to be euthanized or could be placed with someone Who could control Him, because Tom and Liz couldn't. He had to wear a muzzle to be walked down the street. He also was banned from their neighborhood. He bit their Daughter, also Tom several times and bit Liz when She said goodbye to Him at the Kennel.
C.
And I suppose, Katie, that is a good enough reason for you to feel it's perfectly ok for dead dogs to be lying in the sun, rotting away under the very noses of those on the premises??
If he loved dogs, how could he bear to know that this was happening on his premises??
Is it not true that he was still living on the property?
A dog doesn't lose half his body weight, even from sudden notifiable contagious disease, in less than a few days. So WHY was this supposed "diesease" that is being implied hit these dogs, not investigated by a vet a lot sooner??
Be careful of what you say, Katie.
Your insistence that Nitro was "vicious" might give rise to speculation that Croley allowed him to die on purpose from WHATEVER cause, if he was really as unmanageable as you say.
Since Katie seems to know soooooooo much. Where is she getting her information from...Steve????????. Well we know he's one to be trusted. Or is Katie now Steve...the name katie looks good on you steve....probably fits you too. And since Katie "knows" that Nitro was supposedly uncontrollable by Liz and Tom, could it be possible that the great Steve couldnt control him either?????? and his pride was hurt so he let Nitro starve to death and blame it on an illness.
Mr. Lebowski,
I hate ANY violent crime, including arson, murder, robbery AND animal cruelty. It may help you as a detective to know that animal cruelty is an FBI profiling tool for suspects of these violent crimes you mentioned - check it out. Check into some cases of these kids that blow up schools, check battered women's shelters - where in 80% of cases where the husband or boyfriend who abuses his girlfriend/spouse, he has also killed or tortured their family pet.
The YPD Detectives could learn a lot by not being so closed-minded about animal abuse. It is real and it is a foreshadowing of other violent behaviors. So please do not assume people who are animal lovers do not hate other crimes.
Katie,
Unfortunately I saw the pics and the skin on these poor dogs was stretched over their bones. They were starved, "Katie". If the Bil-Jac was in the fridge - why not feed it to the dogs? In addition, they were living in their own waste. We are not stupid. Photos do not lie.
So if words were put in Croley's mouth, then what is the truth? What are the 'other' reasons allllllll those dogs died? If they were sick, he could have called their owners? Why didn't he? If the dogs were not eating all this Bil-Jac he had, then why didn't he notice that they were all half the size than they were when he took them under his 'care'? What is your version of the "truth"?
You folks in Youngstown need a new Municipal judge . Remember this when the next election rolls around .
Let's get the law straight on this one Katie(Steve) . IF the four counts are valid(not an illegal search) then what the officers saw "in plain view" to make those charges gave probable cause to enter . No doubt about it .The problem seems to be the case is in municipal court . Not sure about jurisdiction in Ohio , but are these also the "traffic" courts ?
One more thing Katie(Steve)or the other aliases you are using to post threatening messages in other places , it is irrelevant (not saying you are acurate or not)what the dog's temperament was . They have a human "pink" injection for dogs that even "trainers" can't fix . Starving to death as a training tool? Good job .
Hey Katie I think you should just stop now because you see you don't stand a chance of defending this useless piece of crap that you keep defending. You need to give up now and find something else to do. People that defend animal abusers are just as useless as the ones commiting the act itself. You need to go away now!!!!!!
gistol, thanks. Seriously. I'm sure all those posting on the 15 threads related to this are only doing so because of the "facts" you point out. The fact that it only took two days for someone to issue even a half-baked response only further demonstrates my point. Keep trying -- I most likely won't be back to read what you come up with but by all means...
So...if the judge had pets he would be more apt to tolerate outbursts in the court? Because these people drove a long way they should be allowed to have outbursts in the court? Those who insist truth in these assertions need to keep trying, as well.