A Chesapeake man charged with shooting and killing a neighbor’s pet duck was granted bond Tuesday after spending nearly a week in jail, according to prosecutors.
Gregory Montie, 40, was granted a $2,500 secured bond during a hearing in Chesapeake Circuit Court. The judge ordered that he have no contact with the neighbors who owned the duck, no access to guns, no alcohol, and must wear an alcohol monitoring bracelet while he awaits trial, according to prosecutors.
The incident happened March 25 at a home in the city’s Western Branch area. Montie’s nextdoor neighbors called police earlier that day to report he was shooting a long gun into a wooded area behind his house. Later, while the neighbors were away, security cameras in their backyard showed their pet duck Libby being shot while it was in a chicken coop in the backyard, according to court documents.
The neighbors told police Montie can be heard on the camera’s audio talking to his wife afterward about needing to “fix a problem,” the documents said. Seconds later, the audio picks up the sound of their gate opening. Black spray paint is then applied to a camera in the chicken coop and the coop’s door can be heard opening and closing. The duck was gone when the neighbors went to check on it.
Montie was arrested last Wednesday and charged with poultry theft, reckless handling of a firearm, animal cruelty and destruction of property. He was ordered held without bond by a magistrate and appeared at a hearing Friday in General District Court. Judge Michael Katchmark gave him a $1,000 bond but agreed to hold off on allowing it to be granted so prosecutors could appeal the ruling. Circuit Judge Stephen Telfeyan granted the bond Tuesday and set the special conditions.
Jane Harper, jane.harper@pilotonline.com