Newton Man Accused of Attempting to Sell a Missing Dog
A 44 year old Newton man is accused of attempting to sell a dog that got away from its owner late last week. Newton Police have charged Benjamin Thomas Gordon with 2nd Degree Theft. Court documents say the 5 year old Boston Terrier got out of its owner’s house in the 600-block of First Avenue East around 5:30 last Friday night. The dog’s owner thought it ran away, until an employee at the New Star Liquor Store contacted her and said a man picked up the dog after it ran onto the store’s parking lot. The employee said the man immediately tried to sell the dog to customers in the store. Police say Gordon was identified as that man based on the description the New Star worker provided. The description included swastikas tattooed on the man’s hands. Police ran tattoo records and Gordon’s name came up. He had been booked into the Jasper County jail earlier that day. When questioned, Police say Gordon indicated the dog ran up to him and he thought it was abandoned. He said he gave it to someone in the 100-block of East 8th Street North for safe keeping. That individual, who still had the dog, told officers they didn’t know Gordon. They said Gordon asked them to take care of the dog, and took off running as soon as he placed it down on their porch.
