PORT ANGELES — A family dog that mauled an 11-year-old boy who was left home alone on Feb. 3 had a prior history of violence, the Clallam County Prosecutor’s Office said.
Matthew B. Sims, 38, the boy’s father, was arraigned Friday on two charges, one a charge of dangerous dog attack, meaning he “knew or should have known the dog was potentially dangerous” because it had attacked a person in 2005 in Alaska, Deputy Prosecutor Ann Lundwall said in an amended complaint she filed Friday in Clallam County Superior Court.
Sims left his son, James Sims, alone in their Port Angeles home when the dog, allegedly unprovoked, bit the boy’s face, hands and arms.
James was treated at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle and is recuperating in foster care. He is in the custody of state Child Protective Services.
The dangerous dog charge against his father is a felony. It was upgraded from reckless endangerment, a gross misdemeanor.
A dangerous dog attack is punishable by up to five years in prison and up to a $10,000 fine for the owner.
Sims also is charged with felony possession of a stolen motor vehicle, a motorcycle reported stolen from Auburn.
Possession of a stolen motor vehicle is punishable by up to 10 years in prison and up to a $20,000 fine.
Sims left his son alone with the dog, named Jack, to steal a motorcycle, police said.
Sims pleaded not guilty to the charges at his arraignment Friday.
Police have said the boy’s mother is not in the area. Sims and his son moved to Port Angeles about a month ago, police said.
Judge George L. Wood set a status hearing for 9 a.m. March 5 and an estimated two- to three-day trial for March 29.
Wood also increased bail on Sims to from $10,000 to $20,000. If Sims pays $2,000, he is out on bond.
Sims was represented Friday by Port Angeles lawyer John Hayden of the county Public Defender’s Office.
An arrest warrant against Sims — issued in Anchorage, Alaska — is expected to arrive in Clallam County, according to Lundwall, who was not in court on Friday.
Deputy Prosecuting Attorney John Troberg, standing in for Lundwall, said the prosecutor’s office received a phone call from a detective in Anchorage after Sims’ court appearance Tuesday.
The detective said that Sims fled while charges against him were being investigated and that arrest warrants may be coming out of Alaska.
The dog’s 10-day rabies quarantine at the Olympic Peninsula Humane Society animal shelter west of Port Angeles ends Monday, said Humane Society board President Sue Miles, who was overseeing operations at the shelter Friday.
Sgt. Tyler Peninger said Friday that Sims must claim the dog or make arrangements to get it out of impound.
The dog has been declared dangerous, meaning it cannot have contact with children and its owner must securely confine it indoors and outdoors.
Sims also must obtain a surety bond of $250,000 or liability insurance in that amount.
“If [Sims] can’t or is unwilling to comply with the restriction in the dangerous dog declaration, then the dog will be destroyed, because it can’t be given to anyone else,” Peninger said.
If Sims is unable to get it out of impound, “then I assume it is going to be destroyed,” he added.
Any decision on what to do with the dog if Sims cannot keep it would be reviewed by City Attorney Bill Bloor, Peninger added.
Miles would not comment on who decides what to do with the dog after Monday.
“We will have to speak with the authorities once the time comes and see what the plan is,” she said.
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Staff writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-417-3536 or at paul.gottlieb@ peninsuladailynews.com.