Charges filed against man who allegedly lit dog on fire

A Tooele man accused of setting his ex-girlfriend’s daughter’s dog on fire has been charged.

In charges filed Tuesday, Salt Lake District Attorney Sim Gill charged the man with three felony counts — all related to what happened to Dixie, a red tick heeler who was stolen, set on fire and left on a roadside on March 1.

Gill charged the man with arson, a second-degree felony; torture of a companion animal and theft, both third-degree felonies; and failing to stop at the command of a law officer, a class A misdemeanor.

The arson charge carries a possible sentence of 1 to 15 years in prison; the torture and theft charges carry possible sentences of up to five years in prison.

On March 1, according to a probable cause statement accompanying the charges, a Unified Police officer responded to a report of a small fire near Interstate 80 and 9300 West in Salt Lake County. The officer and Salt Lake County Animal Services later found Dixie, with severe injuries to her face and burns over her entire body.

Dixie’s owner, a young woman, told police her mother had recently broken off a relationship with the man, the statement said. The young woman said the man visited her home in Tooele shortly before her dog went missing, saying he wanted to give Dixie some dog treats. The woman left, and when she came back, Dixie was gone.

According to police, a witness spotted a green pickup truck pull over near I-80 and set fire to a dog. The next day, on March 2, police found a green truck parked at the man’s father’s house in Tooele County. The man tried to run, but police caught up to him less than 100 yards away. After getting a search warrant, police found what they believed to be dog hair on the front passenger seat that appeared to match Dixie’s fur.

Dixie had second- and third-degree burns over 30% of her body, police said. Her owner wrote Monday in a Facebook post that Dixie would need surgery on her eyes, ears and abdomen, but even after surgery, she would have poor quality of life. Dixie was euthanized on Monday, police said.

The felony charges note that the man was convicted of a domestic violence offense within the past 10 years.

Gill is seeking to have the man held in jail without bail. In a motion seeking pretrial detention, prosecutors wrote that Dixie’s owner told police that she had seen the man beat her mother “multiple times” — and that another dog, a Yorkie owned by the mother, disappeared after an argument and was never found.