A Fruita man accused of dragging a dog to death on Colorado National Monument was ordered on Thursday to be held without bond for the weekend.
Steven Clay Romero, 37, is scheduled for a detention hearing and arraignment Monday afternoon at the Wayne N. Aspinall federal building. Romero, shackled and dressed in a yellow jumpsuit from the Mesa County Jail, where he’s being held, expressed bewilderment at the allegations.
“I don’t get it,” he said, sitting alone at the defendant’s table. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michelle Heldmyer then rose from her seat, walked toward Romero and tossed a copy of the charges on the table in front of him.
Heldmyer told U.S. Magistrate Judge Laird Milburn she will ask for Romero’s continued detention during Monday’s hearing.
Romero expressed concern about sitting in jail over the weekend and said he’ll be hiring his own attorney. He told the judge he’s an over-the-road trucker for a company in Silverton, and he supports a family.
“So, in other words I’ll be sitting in jail and probably lose my job, too?” Romero asked Milburn.
“Yes,” the judge responded.
According to Romero’s arrest affidavit, about 4:30 a.m. Wednesday a maintenance worker at Colorado National Monument saw tire tracks and drag marks in the snow leading up West Hill, past the Fruita entrance to the park. Two miles later, the worker saw the carcass of Buddy, a German shepherd-blue heeler mix, with a rope tied to its neck.
