Posted on 10/28/2006 11:27:01 AM PDT by traviskicks
A Sugar Land woman says police went too far when they burst into her home and arrested her boyfriend and son on drug charges. The raid left her dog dead and caused thousands of dollars in damage.
"It was bang, bang, bang, then there was a boom as they broke the door in, threw the fire grenade, and then shot the dog," said homeowner Margot Allen. "This all happened in anywhere from five to fifteen seconds."
That's how Allen's son and boyfriend describe what happened that day. Sugar Land police acted on a tip. They say they found traces of marijuana and cocaine in her trash after a month-long investigation.
"There's no crack done in my house," she said. "There's occasional marijuana in my house. I don't do it because I don't happen to like it."
Based on the evidence in the trash, a regional SWAT team arrived at the home. Police say they knocked, waited 30 seconds, and then broke in with guns and a concussion grenade. The house suffered $5,000 damage and one officer shot and killed Margot's golden lab, Shadow, when police say it charged toward one of the officers. What did officers find inside?
"A joint half the size of my pinky fingernail and then one about this big," she said, showing a length on her finger. "And not anywhere near this big around."
The Sugar Land Police Department declined an on-camera interview, but they are defending their actions, saying they followed protocol to the letter.
The department says it was determined that the bust would be of a moderate risk. Even though they had no specific threat, they were prepared for firearms in the house and felt obligated to anticipate any resistance or violence. They say killing the dog was regrettable. They also say Allen's boyfriend has a history of drug convictions. But for Allen, it was overkill.
"They treated us like we were terrorists," she said. "They broke the door down. They shot my dog. They set my house on fire."
Both Allen's son and her boyfriend were charged with a Class B misdemeanor for that small amount of marijuana. That's punishable by up to six months in the county jail or a maximum $2,000 fine. Both of them will be in court on January 9.
I used to have a 6-pound toy poodle who thought she was a Rotweiller.
If armed men with face masks kicked my door in she would have been all over them. Guess she would have been shot.
You should have seen her on Halloween, when the kids would come trick or treatin. She would go into convulsions.
There is no law so odious nor no police agency so reprehensible that place-seekers would not trample their mothers in a mad scramble to secure a position at the "public servant" trough.
In the mouths of this prohibitionist rabble, "It's the law" translates roughly into "That's my cash."
I've read a more detailed account of this story where the police chief said they used the amount of force they did because they weren't sure if there was any weapons in the house but they didn't want to take any chances. No, the dog didn't attack but it charged and scared the officer terribly - you know how vicious those goldens are, they'll have you down & licked within an inch of your life with that razor sharp tongue of theirs.
I don't like drugs, but this sounds like a bunch of overzealous cops who are too embarrassed to admit they made a mistake. You don't raid houses for a couple of joints, this would just get you a ticket in a lot of places.
Hey el...Heinrich Himmler called...he said you're on for the 27th. You'll be speaking right after the frauleins in the fishnet stockings, and you'll be followed by the act with the trained Alsatians (the dogs, liebchen, not the people...all the trained people from Alsace are already in the Volkssturm, or dead).
Herr Himmler says he's looking forward to it. He seems to think you could make quite a contribution to the Reich.
So you're into fishin too! there's very little in the that can beat that feeling.
I love to fish. It is a way of life for me, and part of my job.
Do you guide of something?
She told the police "Everyone knows he's in Florida and his mother lives down the street". She asked what they would have done if she hadn't put the dogs away and was cooly told they would have been shot.
That would have been a error on their part with a 'that's regrettable' type of non-apology and no recourse for the misidentified target.Totally unacceptable.
No, I fish and write stories about it, often exagerated ones (but, hey, that's fishing right?).
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