Officers have arrested a 39-year-old man after he reportedly hurled a Chihuahua off a balcony and pointed a gun at a person inside the Springtown Motel 6, officials said.
At around 2:30 a.m. Wednesday, police received a call reporting a confrontation between two guests at the motel and one guest had pointed a gun at the other guest, police said.
Officers arrived on scene and spoke to one guest who was determined to be the victim. Here's further details from :
The victim stated that he had observed the suspect, Michael Hamby throw a small dog from a second floor balcony. The dog had landed on the ground below. The victim confronted Hamby about his throwing the dog. Hamby and the victim got into a verbal argument and the motel clerk intervened to separate the two and get them to go back to their rooms. A short time later the victim heard a knock at his door, and when he opened it, Hamby was standing at the door and pointed a gun at him. Hamby then fled the area.
The East Bay Tactical Team — a SWAT unit shared by Livermore and Pleasanton police — was called to the scene due to the gun being involved and Livermore police's prior history with Hamby, officials said. The tactical unit surrounded and evacuated motel rooms, as well as nearby businesses, police said.
In addition, the nearby 7-11 store and daycare on Lassen Road were temporarily placed on lockdown during the response.
SWAT team members were able to make entry to Hamby’s motel room and he was not inside. Hamby was later located in the nearby area and taken into custody at about 7:20 a.m.
Joseph Klvarik stayed overnight in his RV at the Livermore-Pleasanton Elks Lodge parking lot near the Motel 6. He told Livermore Patch that at around 4 a.m. police started using a PA system.
"They were telling someone to come out with their hands up," Klvarik said, who is traveling to South Dakota from Arizona.
At this time the victim is not participating in prosecution of Hamby, police said.
Hamby was arrested for a violation of 597 PC, animal cruelty which is a felony, police said. He will be booked at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin.
More updates provided by police:
Officers were unable to locate the gun Hamby used in this incident. The dog that was thrown from the balcony was located and found to be uninjured.
Hamby’s prior history with LPD includes an incident on 4/27/12 where he was arrested for assault, child endangerment, and possession of an illegal firearm.
I agree Guy!
Legally, police can't "do a sweep" of a hotel. You need to have probable cause to stop people, and you just can't randomly start searching hotel rooms. A more realistic solution is to have their business licenses get revoked or other civic penalties. Bulldoze those hotels and start over. I'll be sending an e-mail to our council members shortly. I encourage you to do the same...
"sometimes the cops get it wrong. the suspect was staying at the Motel 6 with his wife and three small dogs. The two argued over who knows what and the smallest of the dogs ran out of the room and through the verticle bars of the balcony and landed in a grassy area below the room. the dog was not injured. The person in the room next to them came out and confronted them about their arguing and barking dogs to which the suspect put his hand behind his back leading the guest to believe he had a gun. the guest called the police. at that time, the suspect left. the cops arrived and found him not to be there after searching the room. he was found in a field near the hotel. no gun was ever found nor seen. he was transported to the local hospital for observation and was ordered to stay for 48 hours at John George, a facility for mental observation. The police has no hold on him and the doctors stated it was a huge misunderstanding. (cont)
This man has obviously served for our country, and unless you were also in Iraq or Afghanistan, you do not know what this man went through. If it is true that he threw the dog and pulled a gun, then yes, Mr. Hamby needs help, as many other vets do after serving in war and will hopefully know that what he done was wrong. If the quote provided Tahoe22 is true, then I hope that Mr. Hamby does not have to deal with any consuquences from this obvious mistaken act by the guest next door. This does not mean that the guest was wrong for calling this in, as he/she also did not know 100% what happened and had to do what was right but the dog and himself. I hope that Mr. Hamby gets the help that he needs, and I thank him for fighting for my freedom.