Man Violates Probation After Duckling Deaths
ANN ARBOR (WWJ/AP) - A 19-year-old Ann Arbor man has been sentenced to 30 days in jail and 500 hours of community service for violating probation in a case where he drove over and killed four ducklings.
A judge ruled Wednesday that Dillon Pearce will spend at least two days per week in jail and a minimum of 100 hours of community service each month with the Humane Society. Pearce will get no credit for time served for the 14 days he has been held in jail since being arraigned on the probation violation.
Pearce is also required to pay more than $1,800 in fees, must participate in a mental health treatment program and was referred to a substance abuse treatment program.
David Nacht, Pearce's attorney, claims his client was parked and eating lunch with his friends at McDonalds when they spotted the ducklings and had taken "active steps to try to protect them." It was during a second tour of the restaurant's drive-thru lane that Pearce apparently ran over the ducks unknowingly. Employees then called the police. He was arrested a shortly thereafter.
Pearce pleaded guilty to killing the ducklings in April and using marijuana. Police said a mother duck and four to eight ducklings were nesting under a bush outside the restaurant.
Pearce was placed on probation, but violated it when he missed required classes and a drug screening.
He pleaded guilty last week to violating probation.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
