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To Deirdre and Charles Wright, their 4-year-old Newfoundland named Rosie was a member of the family — a big, hairy, doe-eyed friend and companion who "aided in their enjoyment of life, well-being, personal development and daily activities." To the trio of Des Moines police officers who confronted the barking bear-of-a-dog in the driveway of the Wrights' home two years ago, she was something else entirely. "He doesn't want me to get very close," one of the officers is heard saying on an audio recording from a patrol cruiser's dashboard camera, the deep bark of the dog in the background. -snip-...

St. Paul police kicked a man in the face as he lay on the ground and tried to explain that his mother couldn't quickly get to the ground because she'd recently had surgery, a lawsuit says. Police then shot a "flash-bang" grenade directly at the woman, setting her afire and seriously burning her legs, according to the lawsuit. The St. Paul City Council is slated to approve a $400,000 settlement in the lawsuit Wednesday, Nov. 7, equaling the largest payout in a St. Paul police lawsuit, according to the city attorney's office. Six other police misconduct cases have led to...

A dog shot and killed by a cop could have been a threat to bite officers. That's the opinion of the Omaha police union president. Our Sister Station WOWT, Channel Six News, first showed the exclusive video of the incident last month. A man walking the family pet in a search area ignored orders to stop so police arrested him and an officer shot and killed the dog. Omaha Police Union President Sgt. John Wells told Fact Finders, “Based on the video I don’t see that the officers acted inappropriately.” But the dog owner’s sister takes a different view, “I...

PIEDMONT, Oklahoma - A three year old gets his mom in trouble with the law when he gets a ticket from police. Now the little boy's mother will have to pay thousands of dollars for what the toddler did in their own front yard. The toddler is being potty trained, and he wasn't near the facilities, so he unzipped. We are told before he could pee, a Piedmont police officer stopped him. It's a bathroom break that cost mom $2,500. We all know the saying, boys will be boys. Dillan decided to be a big boy, stop what he was...

ATLANTA — A Channel 2 Action News investigation found nearly 100 cases of local officers shooting dogs within the past two years. The investigation looked into the heartbreaking circumstances when a police officer kills a family pet -- probably one of the most difficult scenarios for a pet owner and for police. Nearly two years after Basil was shot and killed in an empty lot by Fulton County Marshals, Elizabeth and Carey Cullifer said they still feel every bit of the pain. "She was a really kind and gentle dog," said Elizabeth Cullifer. She left their 45-pound dog outside alone...

ST. LOUIS, MI (WNEM) - A local family is still shocked after what happened to their beloved pet. They say their dog was shot and killed at the hands of a police officer. The shooting happened Saturday in St. Louis, Mich., in Gratiot County.Lori Walmsley, a neighbor of the family who lost their pet, says she saw the incident. Walmsley says she was outside playing with her own dog when her neighbor's golden retriever, Scout, ran over into her yard. She says she called the dog over to play, which Scout did, and then Scout ran back over back into his...

A sensitive and peace-loving 16-year-old boy from an affluent Georgia suburb was fatally gunned down by a police sniper in his own house after he threatened to kill himself following a bad day at school. Young Andrew Messina cracked after receiving a bad grade and upon returning home he grabbed his parents .357 Magnum and told his mother he wanted to end his life. Panicked, she called the police to come and talk him down, but instead, an army of deputies, an armoured tank and a sniper arrived at their Towne Lake home.... ***** However, the Messina's attorney Chuck Pekor...

A local couple says a San Antonio police officer who shot their dog in the jaw early Sunday morning was at the wrong house. Albert Morales said his brother, Hector Serna, woke him up before dawn after hearing the gunshot and then pounding on his window. “I thought someone was trying to break in,” Serna said, since the officer never identified himself. Serna and Morales said they went outside and the officer approached them saying there had been a 911 call about a deceased woman. Morales then said the officer told him he was responding to the call from another...

Paul Brown was working on his computer in his north suburban home when police smashed in the front door, pointed guns at and handcuffed him and other family members, and ransacked the house in a search for drugs. The authorities had burst in immediately after a postal worker delivered a package to the home that they said contained marijuana. But a search of the house found no further contraband, and officers left without making an arrest. Brown, outraged, said he was sure the cops had the wrong house. Police maintained they had the right place, but the target of their...

A 61-year-old man was shot to death by police while his wife was handcuffed in another room during a drug raid on the wrong house. Police admitted their mistake, saying faulty information from a drug informant contributed to the death of John Adams Wednesday night. They intended to raid the home next door. [snip] The two officers, 25-year-old Kyle Shedran and 24-year-old Greg Day, were placed on administrative leave with pay. “We did the best surveillance we could do, and a mistake was made,” Lebanon Police Chief Billy Weeks said. “It’s a very severe mistake, a costly mistake. It makes...

A Houston police officer shot and killed a one-armed, one-legged man in a wheelchair Saturday inside a group home after police say the double amputee threatened the officer and aggressively waved a metal object that turned out to be a pen. Police spokeswoman Jodi Silva said the man cornered the officer in his wheelchair and was making threats while trying to stab the officer with the pen. At the time, the officer did not know what the metal object was that the man was waving, Silva said. She said the man came "within inches to a foot" of the officer...

ST. LOUIS, Mich. - Friends and neighbors in a mid-Michigan community are rallying behind owners of a golden retriever that was fatally shot by a police officer. The Morning Sun of Mount Pleasant reports supporters gathered Tuesday at the home where the dog named Scout lived in St. Louis, about 50 miles north of Lansing. Mike Goetzinger says the officer had "no reason" to kill the dog owned by his brother Brian Goetzinger and his family. They're planning a protest and vigil Wednesday.

police officers who conducted a wrong-door raid on their home shot their dog, and then forced their three handcuffed children to sit near the dead pet while officers ransacked the home. The lawsuit, which names Ramsey County, the Dakota County Drug Task Force, and the DEA, and asks for $30 million in civil rights violations and punitive damages after a wrong-door raid, also claims that the officers kicked the children and deprived one of them of her diabetes medication. The suit also alleges that one of the lead officers with the task force "provided false information" in order to get...

The Spartanburg County Sheriff's Office announced Thursday that it would not be pursuing disciplinary action against a deputy who fatally shot a tethered dog earlier this week.Richard Woodruff was inside his Spartanburg, S.C. home Monday morning when he heard barking followed by a gunshot. The man rushed outside to check on his 8-year-old shepherd mix, Diamond, who had been playing out front while tethered to the porch railing."I ran outside and I see this guy standing over my dog holding a gun," Woodruff told Channel 7 news. "'I said, 'Why did you shoot my dog?' And his response to me...

BUFFALO, NY (WKBW) - When Rita Hairston's husband died five years ago, she adopted a dog to keep her company and help her through an emotional time. Prada was 5-years-old at the time. The black Labrador Retriever became more than a pet, but a part of Hairston's family. A companion. Last Saturday morning, she returned to her E. Morris Ave. house in University Heights in Buffalo and discovered her home had been broken into and Prada was missing. There was a puddle of blood on the floor and bullet holes in the door of a bedroom where Prada slept. But...

A West Virginia man arrested while running in desert camouflage with an AR-15 training rifle is a member of the Virginia National Guard who served a tour of duty in Iraq, and his father says he's not a terrorist. Stephen Alemar tells The Hagerstown Herald-Mail that he believes his 23-year-old son, William Alemar, was just trying to stay in shape for his next military assignment when he was arrested near two Martinsburg schools on Monday. William Alemar was charged with committing a terrorist act after police found him carrying two knives and ammunition clips, and wearing a bulletproof vest. Alemar...

This devastating photo tells the tragic story of a family dog, shot dead by a police officer as he pursued a robbery suspect on Sunday. Monkey got caught up in the chaos of a foot pursuit along Hodges Street in Lake Charles, Louisiana as officers chased teens believed to have beaten a man in a mall parking lot before stealing his car which they then abandoned. The dog was in a back yard on the street when she heard the commotion and ran out through an open gate.

Police officers in Lake Charles, Louisiana shot and killed a family dog named Monkey while chasing a suspect, according to an online petition calling for the police department to fully investigate the incident.

Army First Lt. Augustine Kim’s finally got the Washington Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) to return his guns after two years -- only to find them permanently damaged. The department violated its own regulations on handling firearms in evidence by engraving marks on the sides of the guns, and the city should reimburse the soldier for the loss. The Afghanistan war veteran was wrongly arrested while lawfully transporting his firearms from New Jersey to his home in South Carolina. All charges were later dismissed, but the city refused to respond to repeated requests from the national guardsman to return the $10,000...

AURORA, Colo. – Police have a “person of interest” in custody in connection with the robbery of the Wells Fargo back at 15301 E. Hampden Avenue Saturday afternoon. Immediately following the robbery, police closed the intersection of Iliff and Buckley after reports the suspect might have taken hostages. According to our crew on the scene, police stopped and searched nearly two dozen cars. The adult occupants of the vehicles were handcuffed during the investigation.