An Elgin Police Department 911 dispatcher was charged with felony animal cruelty after a dead dog was discovered in the trash following her departure from a rental house in Elgin, authorities said.
Samilka Lamboy-Torres, 30, was placed on administrative leave from her job after being charged, Police Chief Ana Lalley said in a statement.
The animal’s death was discovered after Lamboy-Torres moved out of a Bellevue Avenue home she had rented for two years, officials said.
The landlord, who asked not to be named, said she and her family went to clean the house on June 30 and found the basement in sordid condition.
“It smelled like something had died,” she said. “There were feces everywhere. There was urine everywhere.”
While they were removing things that had been left behind, they found what “looked like an imprint of a dog or animal. There were even hairs imbedded in the cement. We looked at it closer and you could actually see the outline of the dog. It was his final resting place,” the landlord said.
The dog itself was discovered later while she was sorting through some of the 27 bags of garbage Lamboy-Torres left outside, she said. When she opened one, she could see the animal’s tail and hindleg inside, she said.
“Something told me to go look at the bags (of garbage),” the landlord said. “I cried. I told my husband, ‘I can’t look at this.’”
Lamboy-Torres had been referred to the landlord by a friend of a friend, she said. She thought that her job with the police department would make her a good tenant, and until she departed she had caused no problems, she said.
The landlord said she didn’t know Lamboy-Torres had a dog, which was prohibited by her lease. Lamboy-Torres was housesitting a dog last summer and paid a fee outlined in the agreement to temporarily keep the animal, she said.
Police said they believe the dog died in early March.
Lamboy-Torres was arrested July 1 at her new home on Columbia Avenue, which Kane County records show she purchased last month.
Lalley’s statement about the arrest was terse.
“The employee, a police emergency dispatcher, was placed on administrative leave on July 1, immediately following the arrest, with additional action expected following a review of the criminal charges,” she said. “The department has no further comment regarding this matter at this time.”
Lamboy-Torres’ next court date is scheduled for Aug. 14.
Gloria Casas is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.
