Despite the defense raising serious questions about the handling of evidence, a judge on Wednesday found enough cause for former Grover Beach police officer Alex Geiger to stand trial on charges he failed to control his retired police dog before it killed one neighbor and seriously injured another.
“There is an inherent danger (with keeping retired police dogs), and I think Officer Geiger knew that,” San Luis Obispo Superior Court Judge Hugh Mullin III said before upholding three felony counts — one for involuntary manslaughter and two for failing to maintain control of a dangerous animal, resulting in injury.
Geiger, 25, worked for the department for about four months before resigning in February, about two months after his dog — a Belgian Malinois named Neo — and another later deemed not to have been the aggressor broke free of Geiger’s backyard and mauled Betty Long and neighbor David Fear.
Fear, 64, died three days later from complications of blood loss due to bite injuries to his arms and torso. Long suffered a head wound and other serious injuries and is still recovering.
Wednesday’s ruling brought cheers from more than a dozen of Fear and Long’s friends and family outside the courtroom and means that Geiger will now proceed toward trial. He has pleaded not guilty and is scheduled to be re-arraigned on Aug. 29.
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