Dog Shot Twice While Trying to Stop Home Invasion

Hillsborough County Sheriff’s deputies have made one arrest and expect several more following a violent home invasion on Polak Drive Tuesday night.

According to the sheriff’s office, Damien Strickland, 25, was standing outside his home in the 9400 block of Polak around 11:14 p.m. when he noticed several men walking towards him. Strickland started to walk back inside his home, but was struck from behind by a firearm, an email to media from the sheriff’s office stated.

The men then forced Strickland into the home as he tried to struggle, the email said. Strickland’s girlfriend, Mersadie Wells-Shahan, 19, and her mother, Brenda Cronk, 45, tried to come to his aid.

So did the family’s dog, Legend.

Legend, deputies say, was shot twice during the scuffle, but managed to bite one of the suspects. When the shots were fired, the woman, deputies say, started to scream, prompting the men to flee the home.

When deputies arrived, they established a perimeter and located two men matching the descriptions the victims provided. The suspects were located at the corner of Ellicot Street and Falkenburg Road. One of the subjects, identified as Michael Jovahnny Rivera, 23, by deputies was trying to conceal his left hand, the email said.

“Deputies observed blood on his pants and noted puncture wounds on his left hand which appeared to be consistent with a fresh dog bite,” the email said.

Tuesday night’s rains forced deputies to stop their search for evidence, but they picked it back up again Wednesday morning. During their search of the area, a .40 caliber Taurus firearm with two loaded magazines and a roll of duct tape was found near the intersection where deputies encountered Rivera and the other suspect.

As of Wednesday afternoon, only Rivera had been charged in the crime, but the sheriff’s office anticipates other arrests soon. Rivera faces aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, armed home invasion and felony animal cruelty charges.

Legend is expected to survive, the sheriff’s office reported.

Strickland suffered lacerations to his head and back and has swelling on his left eye following the attack. Wells-Shahan suffered minor injuries to her head while the suspects were trying to tie her up with duct tape, the sheriff’s office noted.

Photo courtesy of the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office

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