Posted on 01/10/2003 11:54:17 AM PST by 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.'''
Maybe she screamed because she feared her dog would be in danger from a very tense situation. After all, she and her family were doing nothing criminal, yet they found themselves cuffed and on the ground with guns drawn all around them.
I submit she was terrified by this situation and then reacted in shock and disbelief at having her beloved pet gunned down.
Speaking of scum of the earth. Maybe he should go shack up with Lon Horuchi.
Actually that would be more correct if you reversed it. But with that said, we are not talking about "dogs in general", this is about a "English-Pitbull-Boxer-Mixed-Breed-Bulldog".
BTW, you have a 100 pound scaredy-cat. Low posture and lower tail while alerting? Not a good sign of confidence. Pity...
Good Catch!
Lon and Eric...
Sittin' in a tree!
S... H... O... O... T... I... N... G...
First comes love...
Then comes marriage...
Then comes Lon & Eric machine-gunning a baby carriage!
Too bad he didn't disable robo-barney...
This is one chump that we don't want running around with a pair of functional testicles.
We are of a like mind.
The more I read about this and the more this POS says to the press...the more pissed off I'm getting.
Where are you getting that it had Pitbull in it?
The only source for the Pitbull claim, that I know, are news reports quoting the officer as "thinking it was a pitbull".
The owner says bulldog/boxer mix.
BTW, did you see post 149?
I'm not so sure. A number of years ago; that would have been the case. But with internet access, and several 24/7 cable news networks out there, this story is receiving heavy national coverage that it wouldn't have received just a few years ago. Even an internet news forum in Nashville has generated over two thousand replies, and very few are standing up for what this 'cop' did to this poor animal. I'm in east Tennessee, and people are p*ssed.
Good. Fire Hall.
Then, you and I can go pick him up and drive him around the town square--ala "Mississippi Burning"-- so everybody gets a good look at the bastid.
Is this the photo you saw? If so, look at the video again and pause it as many times as you feel comfortable when the dog appears. Is that the same dog as in the video? Can you say for sure, because it doesn't look anything like the dog in the video.
BTW, I'm getting the "pitbull" from the story at the top of this post.
"``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."
Don't ask me, ask the reporter.
Boy, you sure hurt my feelings with that one. I'll be up all night thinking about how my lab lacks confidence. What will the boys at the bass club think?
BTW...Trying to bait me by casting irrelevant insults is not an effective debating technique. It shows a lack of something intelligent to say and an extreme lack of self confidence.
"It shows a lack of something intelligent to say and an extreme lack of self confidence."
Hey, my tail is standing STRAIGHT up, big guy!
I'd be willing to wager a donation to Free Republic that the owner is right and the reporter is wrong.
We on?
I lost much of my sympathy for Smoak when he turned this tragedy into a grubby version of "Dialing for Dollars" and appeasr to be set to use his stiff dead dog as a pointer on the money wheel.
And in any event, dogs other than pit bulls have been known to bite.
Stop talking like a punk.
Mr Smoak is most certainly biased, as are the cops involved.
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