On a regime early early morning patrol in January 2019, DuPage County sheriff’s deputy Chris Obrochta spotted an orange glow in the predawn sky and understood it was a fire.
When he arrived at a puppy kennel around West Chicago, flames had been noticeable on the 2nd floor of the brick composition at the northeast corner of North Avenue and County Farm Highway. Obrochta uncovered the operator of D&D Kennels, Garrett Mercado, outside the house the setting up. Mercado explained to Obrochta that pet dogs had been trapped inside of.
Obrochta could hear the panicked animals howling and barking.
Twenty-nine pet dogs died that chaotic early morning, like nine belonging to Mercado. Now prosecutors are trying to encourage a DuPage County decide that Mercado was dependable for the tragedy.
Mercado’s bench demo began Monday afternoon in Wheaton in advance of Decide Robert Miller. Mercado, who now lives in Woodridge, faces 25 misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty and violation of owner’s duties.
Fourteen of the fees stem from the blaze, which was reported all around 5:30 a.m. Jan. 14, 2019.
Obrochta, the initial crisis responder at the scene, was the 1st to testify on Monday.
In his testimony, Obrochta explained a glance confirmed flames blocking the stairs to the second ground. Mercado and Obrochta then tried to help save canine from double-stacked cages in a large very first-flooring grooming space.

























Obrochta testified the home was loaded with smoke, that he could listen to breaking glass and observed indicators the higher ground could possibly be about to collapse. He managed to grab the cage closest to the door ahead of currently being forced to go away.
Lt. Dom Shurba of the Carol Stream Hearth Protection District testified that as he arrived, he noticed canine managing loose, which includes a huge puppy attacking a small canine and another doggy standing on the roof of the kennel.
“In my 19-moreover decades with Carol Stream, it was certainly the most chaotic initial scene I have ever viewed,” Shurba explained.
He afterwards realized that when combating the fireplace inside of, “There ended up a large amount of puppies we have been essentially going for walks on that we did not know had been there,” Shurba claimed. An additional firefighter testified to viewing a pet dog chained to the get bar of a bathtub on the next ground and believed he aided have out 8 to 10 dead canines soon after the fire was out.
A former DuPage County Animal Command officer also testified a person canine died of injuries from a dogfight, not the hearth itself. She said she observed puppies ingesting dog foods floating in the puddles of dirty water that ran out of the developing as firefighters hosed the fire.
She also testified about kennel conditions on various visits she made to it in May possibly and June 2018, soon right after Mercado took above kennel functions. She stated she wrote an e-mail to the condition Section of Agriculture in Could 2018 expressing concerns about accumulations of dog feces, a pet dog remaining held in a cage way too small for it to thoroughly stand or sit up, and other difficulties. The state is the agency billed with licensing kennels and enforcing regulations, not DuPage County, she reported.
The other fees Mercado faces worry allegations of neglect and cruelty of canine in January 2018, May perhaps 2018 and July 2018. In just one case, it is alleged a 40-pound dog was starved although in Mercado’s care for 5 months, shedding 11 lbs and suffering muscle mass throwing away.
The demo resumes Tuesday afternoon. Prosecutors hope to current testimony on Wednesday and Thursday afternoons, and the defense expects to get started Friday afternoon.
The house owners of the dogs that died in the hearth shaped a Fb team known as the DuPage 29. Some have attended courtroom hearings, carrying images and other memorials of their canine, even though they are not permitted to display screen them in the courtroom.