Man Wants Punishment for Dog Shooting

AJC.com ^ | 01-10-03 | JOHN GEROME

[EBUCK]

Man Wants Punishment for Dog Shooting By JOHN GEROME Associated Press Writer

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP)--A traffic stop following erroneous reports of a robbery ended in heartbreak when the family dog bounded out of the car, his tail wagging, and was shot to death by police.

Now, the dog's owner wants the police officers punished, and the officer who pulled the trigger says he's been getting death threats.

``I don't ever want to see this happen to anybody else. That's why we can't let this go away,'' said James Smoak, who owned the 1 1/2-year-old pit bull-boxer mix named Patton.

Cookeville Police Officer Eric Hall, who shot the dog, said Thursday that people are misjudging him.

``It's been very difficult, but a lot of people who've made comments don't know me,'' Hall said on WTVF-TV in Nashville. ``It's kind of taken a life of its own where people are judging without knowing all the facts.''

Smoak, a seafood salesman from Saluda, N.C., said he has contacted attorneys about the New Year's Day shooting and plans legal action.

He describes the family's ordeal as ``a nightmare we can't wake up from,'' and says he will never forget having to load the dead dog into the car for the ride home.

The incident began when Tennessee state troopers and Cookeville police stopped the Smoaks' green station wagon as they were returning from a vacation in Nashville.

Another motorist had reported seeing money flying from the vehicle as it sped down Interstate 40, and authorities feared there had been a robbery.

They later discovered that the money--about $445--was fluttering from Smoak's wallet, which he had mistakenly left on the car roof after pumping gas.

The patrol car videotape of the stop, released Wednesday by the Tennessee Highway Patrol, shows troopers ordering James and Pamela Smoak and their teenage son, Brandon, out of the car, and the three emerging with their hands up, getting on their knees and being handcuffed.

Then Patton bounds out, his tail wagging, and races toward Hall.

The video shows Hall stepping back, then firing his shotgun. Hall said he thought the dog was a pit bull and that he was about to attack him.

``I noticed that it trained in right on me; the dog's coming right at me,'' he said. ``I yelled at the dog as I was backing up. I screamed at it; it kept advancing and barking in an aggressive manner. It's unfortunate what happened after that.''

Hall, who said he has received death threats, was assigned to administrative duties pending an independent review. An internal police investigation found he didn't use excessive force.

The Tennessee Highway Patrol also concluded its troopers had probable cause to conduct the stop, though officials were still trying to determine how the Smoaks were suspected in a robbery that never happened.

Officers recovered most of the lost money, Smoak said, and officials later apologized, but he said the apologies rang hollow.

``At the scene they told us they made a mistake and that we were free to go,'' Smoak said. ``No one was moved to say they were sorry.''

``The dog was wagging his tail,'' he said. ``It was completely trained.''

Hall said he felt terrible when he learned that the Smoaks were innocent but maintains he reacted appropriately.

``With the knowledge I had at that time, I was so limited that I felt I did what I had to do,'' Hall said.

``If you could have felt what I felt after the whole incident was over,'' he said, ``I thought, 'Oh, my goodness, how unfortunate for that family.'''

[EBUCK]

Extended news on the Tenn. Dog shooting.

[Libertarianize the GOP]

http://www.freerepublic.com/perl/bump-list

[Wolfie]

The author left out the part about the Smoaks begging the cops to close the car doors so their dogs didn't get loose.

[mc10]

just for the record...the dog was not a pit bull...it was a very small dog and was wagging its tail in a very "friendly" way when he approached the idiot cop when the cop blew his head off... writing as a tennessean, i am extremely embarrassed about this whole situation and the cop should be jailed...

[EBUCK]

I didn't notice that but found this to be a bit "off"..

The Tennessee Highway Patrol also concluded its troopers had probable cause to conduct the stop, though officials were still trying to determine how the Smoaks were suspected in a robbery that never happened.

If it was concluded that they had probable cause what was that PC based on, obviously not "robbery" because they are still trying to determine how that happened.

[per loin]

``It's been very difficult, but a lot of people who've made comments don't know me,'' Hall said on WTVF-TV in Nashville. ``It's kind of taken a life of its own where people are judging without knowing all the facts.''

On what facts was this bozo operating when he and his cohorts pulled a family over at gunpoint, made them kneel with guns pointed at their heads, and murdered their dog?

Perhaps he should go on TV and do a frame by frame analysis of those three seconds when the dog was out of the car and still alive. He can show us which wag of the dog's tail gave him the clue that the dog was faking being a friendly pooch.

[EBUCK]

Did you see the video?

In the cops defense, the dog was moving fast. About 2 seconds is all it took for the dog to circle around and head for the cop, at least by the tape that's what it looked like.

And a lot of pit-bulls are short statured like that. I heard that it was a bulldog, which in that amount of time could be mistaken.

Someone should have closed the door to the car IMO.

[NittanyLion]

"I noticed that it trained in right on me; the dog's coming right at me," he said. "I yelled at the dog as I was backing up. I screamed at it; it kept advancing and barking in an aggressive manner. It's unfortunate criminal what happened after that."

It didn't train right on him. The dog bounded out of the car, headed at first toward the side of the road, then turned and started walking toward the cop. All the while, its tail was wagging and it was trotting around.

[EBUCK]

Watching the video brought me around a little to the cops side...and if you don't know me you should know that this is extremely rare...

That dog made a bee line for him. He's trained to shoot dogs should they pose even the slightest threat. Trained that way because the police are becoming militarized.

[mc10]

go to tennessean.com and follow link to video of shooting of this dog and post it here...i haven't bothered to learn how to do this

[Wolfie]

Something reported at first, but not seen since, was that the family indicated that they played with the dog using a flashlight, and that's why the dog reacted the way it did.

[mc10]

you are right except when you view the video you will see that the dog wasn't even in the *slightest* way threatening the fool...i am a former resident of cookeville(i am ashamed to admit) and know the chief of police...he is probably even more stupid than the cop who shot this VERY SMALL DOG

[Mo1]

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[scouse]

``With the knowledge I had at that time, I was so limited that I felt I did what I had to do,'' Hall said.

It is obvious from this statement that this man is incapable of acting in a rational manner when he comes under any duress. He was alone, in fact he was surrounded by his brother officers. Had he been alone he may have shot the whole family.

[Severa]

That's the thing though, I've read in some of the news reports that the family can be heard on the tape asking to close the door to the car so the dog won't jump out.

[Sgt_Schultze]

It seems obvious that the police were searching for a serial litterbug. From the article, I remember a reference to $445. Maybe the police were trying to assess a fine for throwing out all the worthless Federal Reserve paper out the window.

[EBUCK]

From what I saw...subjective of course, the dog bounded out of the car, nosed around a bit then exited screen right. When next appearing, he was heading straight toward the cop at speed (wolfie, I read about the flashlight thing too, but the cop couldn't have known this), the cop took a step back (perhaps bracing his weapon) and fired at the dog point blank.

All in all it seemed to take less than three seconds from exiting the car to shooting and one of those seconds was spent off screen.

[Rebelbase]

Freep mail me if you would like to send an email directly to officer Hall.

[shootist]

Give the PUNK cop 50 years behind bars!

[EBUCK]

OK, just to play devils advocate here...

You are the cop, you are arresting a family for carjacking/robery (??????) and then a dog appears to be charging you. Could be a young pitt-bull (I own a pitt-bull and he's the best dog I've ever had but a lot of folks have bought into the pittbull from hell hype) and your afeard for your ankles....you've been trained to shoot threatening animals so you shoot.

Now you feel bad but how could the situation have been avoided? He should have closed the car door but I imagine that training and procedure have made the officer immune to please from the accused...