SOUTH ROYALTON — “Sasha” is a name of Russian origin that means “defender” and “helped of mankind.”
And a 2-year-old female German shepherd named Sasha who lives in South Royalton lived up to her name on Monday, according to her owner.
A man broke into his neighbor’s Route 14 residence and made threats to harm the occupants early Monday morning, but the family’s German shepherd alerted the residents, which likely kept the intruder from being shot, the father of the family said on Monday.
Sasha’s barking woke him up, Drew Alinovich said in an interview with the Valley News on Monday afternoon. Alinovich then grabbed his gun and dialed 911 as the intruder banged on a door and forced entry into the residence before Alinovich fired his gun in the direction of the intruder, who retreated.
“Had I been startled in the middle of the night with the guy in my house already, I would have likely just shot him,” Alinovich said. “… If it wasn’t for the fact Sasha woke me up, which gave me enough time to get my bearings and call 911, this whole thing would have ended up a lot worse for this fella.”
The man who allegedly entered the residence while Alinovich, his wife and children were asleep upstairs was identified by police as Jesse James Durkee.
Durkee lives in a trailer nearby the Alinovich residence, according to Alinovich.
In Windsor Superior Court on Monday afternoon, Durkee, 38, was arraigned and pleaded not guilty to charges of unlawful trespass into an occupied residence, a felony, plus misdemeanor charges of criminal threatening and unlawful mischief, according to police.
Superior Court Judge John Treadwell denied probable cause on a felony charge of burglary into an occupied dwelling.
Treadwell set bail at $5,000 — the state sought $10,000, but as of Monday afternoon, Durkee was still detained at Southern State Correctional Facility in Springfield, Vt., according to Department of Corrections records.
The incident unfolded shortly before 1 a.m. Monday, when police said they were called separately by the husband and wife occupants of 878 Route 14 in Royalton to report that a man had forced entry into their home through a locked side door, addressed them by their first names and made threats to kill them, according an affidavit prepared by Vermont State Police in support of the charges.
Alinovich was awakened when he heard banging on the door, went to the living room and with his wife, Beth Willhite, standing near him, shot a Sig Sauer handgun in the direction the intruder as he entered the house, the police affidavit said.
“The bullet traveled through the residence and to the exterior of the home,” police said in a news release. Durkee was not hit.
At one point after firing the shot, Alinovich went downstairs to the basement to get a another handgun, a Glock 45, “after deeming the initial pistol faulty,” the affidavit said.
Durkee “displayed signs of mental health issues and drug use based on his manner of speech, his statement and both of his feet being swollen,” the affidavit said, which described Durkee’s appearance as “disheveled and wet.”
That assessment aligns with one Alinovich offered in an interview.
“I assume he was whacked out on drugs,” Alinovich told the Valley News. “If you heard a canine dog going ape, would you still try to come in?”
Durkee, 38, who also faces felony charges of criminal threatening, reckless endangerment and assault with a deadly weapon relating to an alleged violent confrontation with others in Royalton in March, was outside on the porch when police arrived at the scene and appeared to be in a confused state, the affidavit said.
Alinovich said that after he fired his gun and Durkee retreated back outside to the porch, his wife summoned Sasha and “sent her up to the kids room.”
“With all this commotion going on, Sasha goes up to the room and stands guard at the threshold,” Alinovich said. “She’s very responsive.”
Contact John Lippman at jlippman@vnews.com.
