Posted on 01/09/2003 7:29:12 AM PST by FlyingA
As family shrieks, police kill dog Wednesday, January 8, 2003 Posted: 10:26 PM EST (0326 GMT)
COOKEVILLE, Tennessee (CNN) -- Police video released Wednesday showed a North Carolina family kneeling and handcuffed, who shrieked as officers killed their dog -- which appeared to be playfully wagging its tail -- with a shotgun during a traffic stop.
The Smoak family was pulled over the evening of January 1 on Interstate 40 in eastern Tennessee by officers who mistakenly suspected them of a carjacking. An investigation showed James Smoak had simply left his wallet on the roof of his car at a gas station, and motorists who saw his money fly off the car as he drove away called police.
The family was driving through eastern Tennessee on their way home from a New Year's trip to Nashville. They told CNN they are in the process of retaining a lawyer and considering legal action against the Cookeville, Tennessee, Police Department and the Tennessee Highway Patrol for what happened to them and their dog.
In the video, released by the THP, officers are heard ordering the family, one by one, to get out of their car with their hands up. James Smoak and his wife, Pamela, and 17-year-old son Brandon are ordered onto their knees and handcuffed.
"What did I do?" James Smoak asks the officers.
"Sir, inside information is that you was involved in some type of robbery in Davidson County," the unidentified officer says.
Smoak and his wife protest incredulously, telling the officers that they are from South Carolina and that their mother and father-in-law are traveling in another car alongside them.
The Smoaks told CNN that as they knelt, handcuffed, they pleaded with officers to close the doors of their car so their two dogs would not escape, but the officers did not heed them.
Pamela Smoak is seen on the tape looking up at an officer, telling him slowly, "That dog is not mean. He won't hurt you."
Her husband says, "I got a dog in the car. I don't want him to jump out."
The tape then shows the Smoak's medium-size brown dog romping on the shoulder of the Interstate, its tail wagging. As the family yells, the dog, named Patton, first heads away from the road, then quickly circles back toward the family.
An officer in a blue uniform aims his shotgun at the dog and fires at its head, killing it immediately. For several moments, all that is audible are shrieks as the family reacts to the shooting. James Smoak even stands up, but officers pull him back down.
"Y'all shot my dog! Y'all shot my dog!" James Smoak cries. "Oh my God! God Almighty!" "You shot my dog!" screams his wife, distraught and still handcuffed. "Why'd you kill our dog?" "Jesus, tell me, why did y'all shoot my dog?" James Smoak says.
The officers bring him to the patrol car, and the family calms down, but still they ask the officers for an explanation. One of them says Patton was "going after" the officer.
"No he wasn't, man," James Smoak says. "Y'all didn't have to kill the dog like that."
Brandon told CNN Patton, was playful and gentle -- "like Scooby-Doo" -- and may have simply gone after the beam of the flashlight as he often did at home, when Brandon and the dog would play. The Tennessee Department of Safety, which oversees the Highway Patrol, has said an investigation is under way.
Cookeville Police Chief Robert Terry released a statement on the department's Web site Wednesday night describing the department's regret over the incident.
"I know the officer wishes that circumstances could have been different so he could have prevented shooting the dog," Terry wrote. "It is never gratifying to have to put an animal down, especially a family pet, and the officer assures me that he never displayed any satisfaction in doing so." Terry said he and the vice-mayor of Cookeville met with the family before they left "to convey our deepest sympathies" for the loss of their dog.
"No one wants to experience this kind of thing, and it's very unfortunate that it occurred," he wrote. "If we had the benefit of hindsight, I'm sure some -- if not all of this -- could have been avoided. I believe the Tennessee Highway Patrol feels the same way."
The department is conducting an investigation to determine what, if anything, could have been done differently, he said. Police also plan to be in contact with the Smoak family, Terry said. The Smoaks buried their pet at home. A white cross marks the grave.
Now, the time it took to cover that distance for the dog, including his little jaunt through the field out of the picture frame until he met his demise, was 3 seconds. He wasn't heading out for a frolick in the field. Also, the last thing you see before the gun blast was the dog lunging up at the cop. And the last thing I "thought" I heard was a growl cut short by the blast. I say "I thought" because I can not confirm that is what I heard due to other noises.
CNN put a big white circle over the dog at that point so it looks like the dog was approaching the policeman to maybe get his ears scratched. The guy on our local talk show today was telling the audience that he saw the CNN tape and the dog just walked up to the cop wagging his tail and the cop shot it, despite not seeing the unedited clip where you can see the dog lunging at the officer. He didn't mention that the cop was out of the camera frame and actually retreating into frame when he shot the dog and the cop next to him was raising his gun to fire. Did both officers decide it would be neat to shoot somebody's family dog or was the dog baring his teeth as he leapt up at them? That's something I want to know because the video did not give that answer. MY point again, is that the video does not tell the whole story. Compounding that, people are seeing and hearing things in that video that just don't exist, playing Dr. Doolittle and telling us just what the dog was thinking as it leapt from the car and so on.
Just show me his veternarian records so we can see how old, young, big or small he is and how did his vet "describe" him if he was a mixed breed. That's all.
I think you need to review his posts on this subject. I am afraid you have taken something out of context.
I have yet to make that mistake but I know it does happen. My day will come. Apology accepted.
Yeah, you put him down alright. Stupid ass cop. GRRRRRRRRRRRRR... You $^#$!&^$$^#*@_)()*!* sorry excuse for a man in uniform, you $#!@^^T*!&!*&^!
Sir, inside information is that you was involved in some type of robbery in Davidson County," the unidentified officer says.
I hate frivolous lawsuits, but I hope this family takes the police department to the bank.
Suuuuure. Got some news for you, "brain", a person can sue for anything. Emotional distress can reap huge payback. The woman who called 911 and said she saw the "perps" driving 110 MPH would be included in the lawsuit.
You bring up a good point.
Nothing at all is funny about this, but it reminds of something I read in Travels with Charley. Steinbeck said he put a red flag on his white French Poodle (charley) during deer season so no overzealous hunter (seeing white) would shoot him thinking he was a deer. Must've worked cause Charley survived all the traveling... If I ever have to travel in TN with my dog, I'm gonna seriously consider taping a big *white* flag on her tail that says "I surrender policeman, please don't shoot me".
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If this cop felt 'threatened' by the wagging tail...I'd hate to see how he would treat a person who was a little angry! Get this fool with a loaded gun off the streets!! And make him pay for killing their family member!!!
Beware of yellow-bellies with guns and badges.
So... a tail-wagging dog is now a MONSTER?
Matthew, grow up, grow a pair, and try and realize how absurd you sound. A MONSTER? A tail-wagging MONSTER?
From the dog's perspective, those cops should consider themselves lucky the dog WASN'T a monster, because seeing his owners yelled at, cuffed and thrust on the ground would spark many defensive-minded dogs to attack the perps.
THIS dog was wagging his tail.
MONSTER? Calm the idiotic rhetoric.
Makes you wonder how Animal Control manages to trap all those loose dogs on the streets without carrying a street-sweeper shotgun on their shoulder, huh?
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