Deal offered in Schenectady dog-mauling case includes jail time

PHOTOGRAPHER: Justin Mason

City officials have offered a former Schenectady woman accused of harboring vicious dogs a deal that would require her to serve a minimum of 30 days in jail to resolve her outstanding charges.

Jasmine Tirado, 21, would also need to pay $1,250 in fines and at least $789 in restitution, according to Assistant Corporation Counsel Evelyn Kinnah. The restitution and jail components represent minimums before a pre-sentencing investigation is carried out by the Schenectady County Probation Department.

Tirado faces up to 90 days in jail and fines of up to $500 for each of three allegations of harboring dangerous dogs. Her three pit pulls attacked Shirleen Lucas as she was running pre-dawn errands on Hulett Street in late August.

Neighbors hearing Lucas’ anguished screams called police. Responding officers found the badly injured woman on the sidewalk surrounded by three dogs, which apparently escaped from the rear of Tirado’s property. Police had to use Tasers to subdue the animals.

Tirado emerged from the home to get the dogs but later surrendered them to the city’s animal control officer. All three were later put to death.

Lucas needed more than 200 stitches to close her wounds, including staples where her scalp was pulled back. She lost sections of both ears and suffered wounds to both her legs and arms.

An attorney representing Lucas filed a notice of claim against the city earlier this month, the first step in a potential lawsuit. Lucas is still exploring her options to file a lawsuit in the case.

Tirado was issued an appearance ticket for having one unlicensed dog, along with three citations for harboring dangerous animals. In addition, she faced several outstanding unlicensed dog violations from 2010 that were never resolved because she failed to show up for court.

“There was an warrant issued when she failed to show for court,” Kinnah said.

The warrant was apparently never executed, however. She received another in July and appeared in court in August, about a week before the attack on Lucas.

The pre-sentencing report is expected to be returned Feb. 15.

Tirado’s defense attorney could not be reached Wednesday.