The Smoaks appear on CNN
Posted on 01/08/2003 11:35:54 PM PST by JohnHuang2
The Tennessee policeman who shot and killed a family's dog during a terrorizing traffic stop took just three seconds to slay the animal after it jumped out its owners' car, reports the Cookeville Herald-Citizen.
Law-enforcement authorities released a videotape of the incident yesterday, which shows the three-second time frame on the tape's counter.
The Cookeville police officer who shot the dog, Eric Hall, has since been reassigned to administrative duties while the incident is probed.
As WorldNetDaily reported, the Smoak family was returning to their home in North Carolina on New Year's Day when three police cars swarmed their vehicle on Interstate 40 in what appeared to be a traffic stop.
The Smoaks appear on CNN |
A Tennessee Highway Patrol officer broadcast orders over a bullhorn for driver James Smoak to toss the keys out of the car window, get out with his hands up and walk backwards to the rear of the car. Smoak obeyed and was subsequently ordered onto his knees and handcuffed at gunpoint. Officers similarly handcuffed his wife, Pamela, and their 17-year-old son with their guns drawn.
As the troopers were putting the family members inside the patrol car, one of the Smoak family dogs, a boxer-bulldog mix named Patton, came out of the car and headed toward one of the Cookeville officers who were assisting the THP troopers.
"That officer had a flashlight on his shotgun, and the dog was going toward that light, and the officer shot him, just blew his head off," Pamela Smoak told the Herald-Citizen. "We had begged them to shut the car doors so our dogs wouldn't get out, [but] they didn't do that."
The Smoaks had been pulled over by mistake after someone reported seeing the car getting on the highway with cash flying out from behind the vehicle. James Smoak, it turns out, had mistakenly left his wallet on the roof of the car when he stopped to get gas. Someone within the THP reportedly thought a robbery had occurred, though it turns out none had.
Hall claimed he was acting in self-defense.
"I yelled at the dog to get back, but it attempted to circle me to attack, so I felt that I had no option but to protect myself," the officer wrote in a police report.
Police Chief Bob Terry told the Herald-Citizen, "We are aware there is a lot of criticism out there over this incident, and we want to take [Hall] off the road and let him perform other duties while we get this all resolved." Terry stressed that Hall was not being punished for killing the dog.
The Herald-Citizen reports that "to an average viewer, the scene recorded on the video may not demonstrate the aggressiveness or the threat the officer said he experienced as the dog came toward him."
Terry said he will have two unrelated police agencies perform independent reviews of the incident.
"We once again extend our deepest concerns to the Smoak family for their loss," Terry said. "We know this was a terrible experience for them, and we truly wish that we could undo the events that occurred on the night of Jan. 1."
The Smoaks recently told their story on CNN's "Connie Chung Tonight."
Speaking of Patton, son Brandon Smoak told Chung, "He's the gentlest dog that I've ever been around. He's like Scooby Doo. He wasn't mean at all."
I think most of these people would do just that.
But if it had been my dog, I would have cried and then comforted the cop and told him not to feel guilty.
Unbelieveable, there is still someone who cares about man and not just his furry friend.
And where is the "EVIDENCE" that these "ARE" the armed robbers?
I think Officer Eric Hall is taking all the heat when the really big mistake was made by the THP dispatcher who issued an all-points-bulletin for a robbery suspect based on an anonymous cell-phone call reporting money flying out of a car. Nobody witnessed a robery, but a dispatcher reports the description of a robbery suspect. The high-stress felony stop scenerio was wrongly initiated by the THP dispatcher!
IMO, another big mistake is that the senior THP trooper failed to remain properly in charge at the scene. The trooper wandering around with a flashlight (probably the Lt.) clearly could have closed the door.
If you look at the all video and read all the stories at NewsChannel5.Com - Nashville, Tennessee maybe you will conclude, like me, that Officer Eric Hall is taking all the heat for mistakes by the THP. Three seconds isn't a whole lot of time size up the dog's intentions.
He also said the dog singled him out for attack, circling him in an aggressive manner and growling in a threateningly.
This is from his initial interview with one of the local papers.
Officer Hall, as well as the THP officers, will likely be be cross examined under oath during the litigation process which is just getting uderway. We'll see how much of his original statement holds up.
Do we have a whole nation who are literally scared to death of any dog that even resembles a Pit Bull?
This is getting totally whacky.
A nation of effing p*ssies. Beam me up, Scotty.
I strongly agree that the dispatcher should be punished. I disagree with your characterization of Officer Hall.
But we weren't there.
Dan
Way to go people, in your anger towards officer Hall, you have terrorized an 86 year old woman who is now "afraid of her phone". Nice going.
I think he is taking the heat for every gripe and fear these people have had with government since they were born.
They are railroading him in a merciless frenzy of lynch mob mentality, that makes Officer Hall look like the model of restraint.
Because when I watch and read the complete reporting by the local news media in Nashville, TN I don't see a vicious, monster, "punk" in Officer Hall.
If you are LEO, you should want people like this expunged from your ranks.
I'm an engineer and as I posted earlier, I have no family in any way connected with law enforment and I'm not a FReeper.
Where are you coming from?
I am convinced that nationally televised video supposedly showing police engaged in brutality is always interpretted by the "huddled masses" in an emotional way, rather than a rational way.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.