Man Who Slashed Police Dog Gets 3 More Years Added to His Sentence

By Michael Frye

SACRAMENTO – A defendant here in Sacramento County Superior Court, already facing 15 years in prison, had three more years tacked on after he slashed the face of a police dog.

On May 19, 2018, Jack Burke was being chased in a vehicle pursuit with Sacramento County sheriffs. Eventually the defendant stopped his car, and the officers used non-lethal means to apprehend him, but the defendant failed to obey their commands.

When stopped, the defendant exited the driver’s seat of his car with his right hand behind his back holding a knife, according to the court.

The sheriff department’s canine named Jedi charged Burke, making contact with him, and Burke stabbed the dog in the face, lacerating the dog’s cornea and three eyelids. The dog had surgery. On May 23, 2018 the cornea and 3rd eyelid healed.

Though back at work, because the dog’s eyelid was reconfigured, it will likely cause the cornea to become dry and subsequently cause cataracts. The dog’s 3rd eyelid will be abnormal for the rest of its life.

Before receiving the maximum sentence of three years for great bodily injury to the dog, the defendant pleaded no contest to two strikes, both 1st degree burglaries that occurred 23 years ago in Napa County, the first being on June 27, 1997, the second on January 5, 1997.

Burke also pleaded no contest to an incident which took place on June 25, in which the defendant assaulted another inmate. The incident was caught on video and showed the defendant punching another inmate in the face, eventually causing the victim to fall and hit his face on a metal stool—causing facial fractures and requiring surgical repair.

Judge Marlette said Burke was given the three years upper term because of his prior history of recidivism, even though his two prior burglaries were 23 years ago, with a recent altercation in jail and the “viciousness and callousness of his attack on ‘Officer Jedi.’”

Defendant Burke was ordered to pay restitution in an amount to be determined to the sheriff’s department and “Officer Jedi” and to the inmate injured in the altercation in jail.

Burke was sentenced in the aggregate to 17 years in prison.


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About The Author

The Vanguard Court Watch operates in Yolo, Sacramento and Sacramento Counties with a mission to monitor and report on court cases. Anyone interested in interning at the Courthouse or volunteering to monitor cases should contact the Vanguard at info(at)davisvanguard(dot)org - please email info(at)davisvanguard(dot)org if you find inaccuracies in this report.

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