knuckle dragger shoots dog and man

[Unregistered]

Clifford Ransom Jr. wanted for shooting man, pit bull in South Side Easton
Thursday March 19, 2009, 12:34 AM

http://blog.lehighvalleylive.com/easton_impact/2009/03/small_ransom.JPGClifford Ransom Jr., a 31-year-old man wanted for attempted murder, has a long, unhappy history with pit bulls and Easton police.

Back in 2000, he was charged with turning a pit bull loose on a city police officer investigating a domestic dispute.

That crime earned him a one- to two-year Northampton County Prison sentence and four years of probation.

Now, Ransom, no known address, is charged with fatally shooting a pit bull and trying to kill a man.

Poli
ce say he shot Jonathon Amato and the dog Tuesday night during an argument in the 1000 block of West Berwick Street in Easton. The dog died; Amato is expected to survive.

Ransom, who is considered armed and dangerous, left the house in an older model silver Pontiac Grand Am. He also faces aggravated assault, reckless endangerment and animal cruelty charges in the case.

 

[Noam Sayn]

Easton man admits to shooting man, dog

Despite an earlier self-defense claim, an Easton man who shot another man during a fight at a city home pleaded guilty today in Northampton County Court.

Clifford Ransom Jr., 32, faces up to 17 years in prison after admitting to aggravated assault and two other charges in connection with a March 17, 2009, argument that left Jonathan Amato wounded in the upper thigh and his family's pit bull killed.

The agreement came as prosecutors agreed to drop a more serious charge of attempted homicide, and as Ransom said he worried about the potentially stern consequences should he be convicted at trial.

"The charges are carrying a lot of time and the legal system hasn't been fair with me in the past," Ransom said. "I don't want to gamble with the jury."

After lengthy questioning, Judge Edward Smith accepted Ransom's plea. The judge repeatedly asked Ransom whether he understood a self-defense argument and whether he believed the plea was in his best interest.

Sentencing is set for June 1. The other charges Ransom pleaded to were cruelty to animals and fleeing apprehension, for absconding to Loveland, Colo., where he was arrested less than a month later.

Amato has testified that on the day of the shooting Ransom had come to his W. Berwick Street home where they exchanged words over whether Amato was involved in an earlier burglary there. He said Ransom reached for his hip, like he was going to pull a gun.

Amato said he began to try to knock Ransom out, and that his dog grabbed Ransom's arm.

In court, Ransom maintained he was unarmed when he came to the house. Ransom said he shot Amato with a gun of Amato's that had fallen to the floor during the struggle; the dog was still latched to Ransom's arm when he fired on it, he said.

"I had to pick the dog off the ground to shoot it because it was shaking so much I would have shot my arm," Ransom said.

Assistant District Attorney Patricia Mulqueen said Amato denied that the 9mm handgun that wounded him was his own. Amato was carrying a .357-caliber gun, but it was holstered, and was damaged in the shooting and could not fire, she said.

Defense attorney Philip Lauer said the guilty plea was a compromise.

Ransom's previous negative run in with police? A 2000 arrest in Easton in which police said he sicced a dog on a police officer, Lauer said.

The dog -- also a pit bull -- injured the officer's arm and hip, according to court records. Ransom was convicted at trial and served one to three years in state prison.

http://www.mcall.com/news/breaking/all-ransom-man-dog-041210-cn,0,2040945.story