SAXONBURG — All charges against borough manager Steven May were held for court Tuesday, March 5, following testimony from eight witnesses from the prosecution and defense that he had shot a dog with a crossbow last year.

May, of Clinton Township, was accused of shooting a dog with a crossbow on Nov. 11 and disposing of it in the municipality's dumpster.

Buffalo Township police charged May on Dec. 20 with a felony count of aggravated cruelty to animals, misdemeanor counts of criminal mischief and tampering with physical evidence, and summary damage to personal property.

Geraldine Goldscheitter, the mother of the dog owner, Hannah Goldscheitter, testified the dog, an Australian shepherd known as Bear, was reported missing by the owners in a Facebook post and flyers. The dog ran off chasing deer and did not return home. A few days after the dog's owners put up flyers requesting information about the lost dog, May contacted them and said the dog was hit by a car and mistaken for a coyote.

She said she contacted May again because his story “didn't sit right.” It was during this conversation that Goldscheitter said May disclosed he had shot the dog thinking it was a coyote.

This is a developing story.