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Murray meets mouth of malicious mutt

John Colson

Aspen Police Officer Leon Murray was bit by a dog Friday when he showed up at a Main Street address to mediate a neighbors’ dispute.Murray was called to 605 W. Main St. about a tenant whose dog keeps wandering into chiropractor Tom Lankering’s office and bothering his customers, said Sgt. Steve Smith.Murray went to the apartment of the dog owner, Claudia Verellen, 39, and knocked. An employee of hers opened the door, Smith said, allowing the dog to dart out and nip Murray on the ankle, causing some pain but not breaking the skin.Murray later tracked Verellen down at her job at Manrico Cashmere, where she “got a little excited” about his purpose for visiting her, Smith reported.Murray left without citing her, but Verellen was later summoned into municipal court on the charge of keeping a malicious dog. Smith said Verellen had been warned twice before about the same issue.