A Las Vegas judge has issued a bench warrant for a woman accused of leaving her golden doodle puppy at the airport, after she missed her initial court appearance.
Germiran Bryson, 26, is alleged to have abandoned her two-year-old dog at Harry Reid International Airport on February 2. This occurred after she was informed she lacked the necessary documentation to fly with the dog as a service animal.
Instead of attempting to reschedule her flight, Bryson reportedly tied the dog to a metal carry-on near the JetBlue ticket counter and left the scene without a backward glance, according to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department.
She was apprehended at her departure gate soon after and subsequently charged with animal abandonment and resisting arrest, authorities reported.
Despite these charges, which are classified as misdemeanors, Bryson was not required to post bail and was released.
During her first court hearing on Tuesday, Las Vegas Justice Court Judge Diana Sullivan noted that her office had received a phone call from a family member of Bryson, claiming she was hospitalized in another state, as reported by KLAS.
The judge said she did not receive any documentation to support the hospitalization claim and issued a $5,000 bench warrant to Bryson for missing court.
The bench warrant allows any police officer to arrest Bryson and hold her in jail until she returns to Las Vegas to enter a plea.
A judge issued a bench warrant for Germiran Bryson, 26, after she failed to show up in court and enter a plea on misdemeanor charges allegedly abandoning her pup at the airport
She allegedly left the two-year-old dog inside Harry Reid International Airport on February 2 after being told she did not have the proper paperwork to bring him on board as a service animal
Bryson’s brother, Gerrayl Bryson, previously told the local news station that his sister was disabled by an injury she suffered as a member of the US Armed Forces and was not of sound mind when she abandoned the dog.
‘Her leaving her dog, who is her very best friend and she travels with him everywhere, is another sign of the severity and degradation of her condition,’ he said.
‘So again, the best way that this incident can be described is as a young female veteran having a crisis.’
Las Vegas police also released bodycam footage showing Bryson trying to get through Gate D1, where officers immediately confronted her.
‘I’m going to throw my bags down because I’m exhausted,’ she told authorities.
An officer told Bryson sharply, ‘No, what we’re gonna do is walk you back to where your dog’s at and give you a citation, because you left your dog at the ticket counter.’
She became defensive, insisting she was merely trying to ‘rebook her flight,’ but police pressed her once again on why she’d left her dog behind.
In an apparent attempt to shift blame, Bryson told authorities she was just following what airport staff had told her to do at the counter.
Rather than rebooking, she allegedly tied her dog to a metal carry-on sizer at the JetBlue ticket counter
Las Vegas police officer Skeeter Black adopted the four-legged friend, nicknamed ‘Jet Blue’
Not buying her excuse, the officer scoffed, ‘To walk out here without your dog?!’
Bryson ‘claimed the dog had a tracking device – implying it was acceptable to leave the animal behind and it would return to her,’ the police department said.
While being walked back through the checkpoint, the disgraced dog owner allegedly became ‘hostile’ and struggled with officers trying to detain her.
After 10 days with Animal Protective Services and a search for a new home through the nonprofit Retriever Rescue of Las Vegas, the pup was adopted by the officer who came to his rescue.
Las Vegas police officer Skeeter Black adopted the four-legged friend, nicknamed ‘Jet Blue,’ the department wrote on Facebook.
‘Weeks after being found tied to a baggage sizer inside Terminal three at Harry Reid International Airport, the dog now known as Jet Blue is officially on the way to his new forever home,’ the post stated.
‘Officer Black and his family had already been approved through Retriever Rescue of Las Vegas months earlier while searching to adopt a golden doodle of their own.
‘Following the mandatory hold period, the rescue organization selected them to provide Jet Blue with the safe and loving home he deserves,’ it added.
A heartwarming montage was also shared by the department, featuring a compilation of slow motion clips and photos of Black and his family outside the rescue center.
