A 26-year-old Pennsylvania woman could spend up to a dozen years behind bars after she admitted to breaking into the home of a family, where she fatally stabbed their dog and bit two people who then needed medical attention.
Clinton County Court of Common Pleas Judge Michael F. Salisbury on Tuesday ordered Breanna Englert to serve up to 12 years in a state correctional facility after she pleaded guilty to charges including criminal trespass, cruelty to animals, and making terroristic threats, authorities said.
Englert, who appears to have a “Lady Justice” tattoo on her neck, pleaded guilty to the crimes in October.
According to a news release from the Clinton County District Attorney’s Office, troopers with the Lamar division of the Pennsylvania State Police responded in April to an emergency 911 call reporting a home invasion at a residence in the 300 block of Pennsylvania Avenue in South Renovo, about 165 miles northeast of Pittsburgh.
Breanna Englert (Clinton County DA’s Office)
Upon arriving, first responders found Englert at the scene and placed her under arrest. Authorities said she broke into the home and was quickly confronted by the homeowners and a neighbor.
“Englert attacked the homeowner’s dog with a knife and bit two of the victims, who required medical attention. Immediately following the incident, the victim’s dog suffered seizures and died a short time later,” the release states. “Englert was believed to have been under the influence of controlled substances at the time.”
Clinton County District Attorney Dave Strouse argued that Englert should face harsh punishment during Wednesday’s sentencing hearing, requesting that the court hand down the maximum sentence of 25 years.
“Ms. Englert should thank her lucky stars that she is still alive today, because in many of the other homes in Clinton County that she could have broken into, she would have died that night,” Strouse said, per the DA’s office.
The DA also described what he characterized to be a “documented history of violent criminal behavior” by Englert that dated back to 2019, emphasizing that she had two assault convictions. He noted Englert was on supervised release with the Clinton County Adult Probation Department at the time of the attack.
Prosecutors told the court they were against allowing Englert to enter an early-release program. Instead, they requested that the court “make a clear statement with the sentence that home invasion and terrorizing innocent people would be dealt with severely by the courts,” the news release said.
Before sentencing, one of Englert’s victims, a retired school teacher, spoke directly to her in court, saying, “you invited us into your world, we never invited you into ours. You broke into our house with a knife.”
“If it wasn’t for our neighbors, I don’t know what would have happened,” the victim said. “I truly believe our neighbors saved our lives that night.”
The victim said her grandchildren were traumatized and continue to have issues in certain areas of her home.
When it was her turn to speak, a teary-eyed Englert apologized to the victims and asked the Court to let her complete drug treatment programs instead of going to prison. She insisted that her criminal past was due to prescription drug abuse and methamphetamine use.
But the court was not moved.
Salisbury told Englert she needed a severe object lesson and insisted any lesser sentence would be an injustice that would almost certainly result in her re-offending.
Englert also pleaded to two counts of recklessly endangering another person, two counts of simple assault, and one count of resisting arrest. She will be eligible for parole after serving 3 1/2 years of her sentence.
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