Ohio boy denies stealing search dog

WILLOUGHBY, Ohio (AP) — A 13-year-old boy in northeast Ohio has entered the equivalent of not-guilty pleas to charges that he stole a search-and-rescue dog.

The boy’s public defender told The News-Herald of Willoughby that he entered the pleas in juvenile court Wednesday.

The boy was accused of stealing the dog in Kirtland in September, when he was 12. He was charged with theft of a police dog and grand theft, both felonies. He also faces misdemeanor counts of harassing a police dog and criminal mischief.

The dog is part of Big Creek Search Dog Team, which assists law enforcement and other agencies in searching for missing people.

The dog’s owner, Willis Rosch, told the newspaper he wants the youth prosecuted “to the fullest extent of the law.”