CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A former Chapmanville police officer pleaded guilty Thursday afternoon in Kanawha County Circuit Court to three misdemeanor charges in connection with the disappearance of police K-9 officer Chase.
Marcus Dudley, 26, went before Kanawha County Circuit Judge Stephanie Abraham pleading guilty to misdemeanor charges of animal cruelty, making false statements and obstructing an officer.
Dudley admitted to not providing proper supervision for Chase, who went missing from his former home in South Charleston in April and has not been seen since. Investigators still have not given any comment on whether they believe Chase to be alive or not.
“I should have. I should have supervised him appropriately,” Dudley told Abraham. “I should have stayed outside with him when I took him out instead of leaving him out to use the restroom before our shift and going back in the house.”
Dudley said he didn’t provide Chase with the proper setting for being outside, saying he left the dog unsupervised and chained outside to a tree.
“The chain was around the tree in my yard and he had a collar on but I don’t think the collar was proper. I guess I should have put another collar on that was more sustainable,” he said.
In addition, Dudley said he failed to provide Chase with the proper nutrition when he left him unattended to go out of town for about a day or day and half.
“I didn’t put the food down in front of him but there was food left out. “I put it down the day I left and returned the day after or so,” Dudley said, adding that he did provide Chase with water.
Dudley said he also gave a false statement to an officer when inquired about Chase’s disappearance, saying Chase was supervised when in fact he was not.
Dudley was indicted by Kanawha County grand jury on three counts of falsely reporting an emergency, two counts of making false statements and obstructing an officer, and one count of animal cruelty.
The indictment stated Dudley contacted emergency dispatchers on April 11 regarding Chase and provided inconsistent statements on the dog’s whereabouts.
Dudley was arrested in Henry County, Georgia on August 15 after he failed to appear for his arraignment in Kanawha County Circuit Court before Judge Duke Bloom the week prior. He was transported back to Kanawha County on August 24 and taken to the South Central Regional Jail.
Dudley previously pled not guilty to six charges.
The story has garnered much traction across social media outlets as the search for the missing K-9 continues.
An activist group organized around the situation concerned for the dog’s whereabouts and wellbeing, Justice for K-9 Chase, is one of the search efforts starting to gain that traction. Some of its members were attendance at the plea hearing Thursday, including Darlene Skinner and Annette Roberts.
Roberts said while they were disappointed with how the results of Thursday’s plea unfolded, they understand why Dudley took the plea agreement as it probably wouldn’t have played out any differently had it gone to an actual trial. However, she said one major concern still looms over them.
“We are still left with the question, ‘where’s Chase?’ and no one seems to have brought that question up,” Roberts said.
Roberts and Skinner both agreed Thursday’s proceedings left them with no relief or reassurance, only more questions.
Roberts said figuring out Chase’s location or knowing whether he is still alive or not is crucial in closing the case, not only for the rights of animals, but because of the fact that he was an officer.
“If it was a human officer it certainly wouldn’t be left unanswered,” Roberts said. “As people who support K-9s and stand up for them, we feel like that was an important thing for us to know so we could possibly, if he is still alive, retrieve him.”
She adds that if it happens Chase is not alive, they would like to give him the proper burial he deserves.
Roberts said now they are taking action so that a case of this nature can be prevented in the future, as well as be the voice Chase doesn’t have.
“If no one does anything nothing ever changes, and now our goal has really turned to get legislature changed so this doesn’t happen again,” she said.
“We just want people to know that there are people standing up for an animal that can’t speak for itself, and so we feel like we are his voice and that’s it’s important that we be here.”
Dudley is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 14. He faces a maximum sentence of 6 months and 5 days.