By Owen Woods | owen@alamosacitizen.com
ALAMOSA
A temporary restraining order against Alamosa City Attorney Erich Schwiesow has been dismissed after a trial today. The trial was to determine if the temporary order should be made into a permanent order after testimony and evidence were provided.
Edwin Mondragon requested to withdraw the temporary restraining order before the trial began. He asked to have the case dismissed after making efforts to relocate his livestock and dog farther from the road.
Schwiesow, prior to the trial, filed a counterclaim for a restraining order against the dog.
Schwiesow was accused of harassing Mondragon’s livestock dog after being chased by the animal on County Road 106 South throughout the spring of this year. Mondragon, in the first hearing in June, testified that Schwiesow threatened to shoot the animal. This gave Mondragon cause enough to want to file a restraining order.
The trial parameters set by Pueblo County Judge David Lobato allowed both sides to gather evidence, call witnesses, and to conduct cross-examination.
Schwiesow came prepared with three witnesses, photographic evidence, and four videos.
Two witnesses, Rick Dunnahoo, president of the High Valley Cycling Club, and Brian Puccerella, the GenWild program coordinator for SLVGO!, were questioned about the necessary route that County Road 106 provides, as well as their own personal experiences of being chased by dogs while cycling.
Dunnahoo said that he bikes upward of 2,000 miles a year and during all that cycling, he travels between the Waverly Road and the 106 three to four times a week.
Puccerella said he rides upwards of 5,000 miles a year and before moving into Alamosa proper would ride the same stretch of road five times a week.
They both spoke on how County Road 106 allows cyclists to bypass or avoid Highway 160, despite the danger of dogs. They both testified they have encountered dogs on this stretch of road before.
Alamosa County Deputy Shelly Rodman, who is the sheriff’s office animal control officer, was questioned on Alamosa County Ordinance 13, Section 6. The ordinance states that it is unlawful “for the owner of any dog to fail to prevent the dog from running at large in the entire unincorporated area of Alamosa County.”
Finally, Schwiesow gave his testimony and showed the four videos he recorded of the dog chasing him alongside the road. All four videos showed the dog effortlessly leaving the property’s fence, allowing it to chase him for some distance. After a short while, the dog returned back to the property.
Judge Lobato accepted Mondragon’s motion to withdraw the restraining order and have it dismissed, but he did not accept Schwiesow’s counterclaim.
After the trial was called to recess, Alamosa Citizen spoke with Schwiesow briefly about the results and what he intended going forward. “I think the judge was biased, and I think the judge was incompenent, and I’m going to make that clear to the Senior Judge Program of the State of Colorado, and file an appeal on the way he issued the temporary restraining order in the first place.”