NY man allegedly kept bomb-sniffing dog after quitting security job
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. Jan 28 2018 — A Great Kills man may have bitten off more than he could chew when he allegedly kept his bomb-sniffing canine after quitting his private security gig.
Peter Vega’s former employer, MSA Security, claims he refused to return the highly-trained $350,000 dog named Fallon when he abruptly left the firm in mid-December, according to allegations in a lawsuit filed in Manhattan.
After several failed attempts to retrieve Fallon, MSA sent the police on Vega, who then, according to the filing, offered to buy the dog.
After his request was denied, he told his former employers the dog had ran away, said the complaint.
The complaint says the firm fears Vega will lose the dog, and either sell or give her away as an act of spite.
“Vega’s actions are cruel and destructive,” the suit claims.
Vega, 27, was arrested on Dec. 28 and charged with grand larceny. He was arraigned in New York Criminal Court and released without bail, according to online state court records.
He is due back in court Feb. 7.
“If Vega is allowed to keep Fallon for even several more weeks, she will have have to be retrained over the course of several months following her return to MSA, thus depriving MSA…the use of a highly trained bomb detecting dog…,” said the complaint.
Vega began working at MSA in February of 2017, and signed a handler agreement that states he would have to return Fallon upon his termination, said the complaint.
The suit claims the defendant quit on Dec. 15 after refusing to work a weekend shift at Madison Square Garden.
Vega could not be reached for comment Friday.
silive.com
