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.'''
Your opinion of my dog has been duly noted and filed away with other things I could really care less about.
If it was at night he may have not seen clearly. BUT the guy did tell him to close the door, and was ignored. I agree the guy should be off the streets, as well as a few of the others that were there using unwarranted extreme force.
I mean the cop should be off the streets.
First, allow me to note that if "pompous" was the attitude you hoped to convey with your post, mission accomplished.
On to the subject at hand...The second cop spun around to level his gun because the first cop (Hall) was screaming at the dog to stop. I have no idea why Hall thought screaming at the dog would be effective. So the second cop's actions were based not on anything the dog did, but rather on Hall's screams.
According to what we've heard so far, the dog apparently played with his owners' flashlight. While I realize the cop would have no way of knowing that, it's obvious to any reasonable person watching that video that the dog is playing - not attacking. I'd have expected Hall to notice the same.
Another clue? How about the mother screaming for the dog as he passed by her on his way to the cop. Is it possible that she thought, and probably figured that the dog was a threat to attack.
Anything's possible. But the idea that she was screaming because she thought the dog would attack is very unlikely. I suspect her screams had more to do with the fact that she was handcuffed and on her knees with a shotgun pointed at her head, and now the people with guns are reacting to the dog's presence. She was obviously right to recognize the situation had just spun out of control, hence her screams.
She was absolutely shocked and horrified that the police shot the dog. This tells me that she wasn't expecting the police to shoot the dog.
Uh...that's probably a safe bet...
The fact is that you did not see what happened in the 1-1/2 seconds that the dog was off the screen so unless you were there, you do not know what happened in the 1-1/2 seconds that the dog was off the screen. What we do know for sure was that this English-Pitbull-Boxer-Bulldog-Mix was not off frolicking in the daisies and according to the video tape the last thing the dog did was jump up at the cop.
Nonsense. The video speaks for itself. No reasonable person could watch that video and believe the dog was about to attack Hall.
Here's one more point to ponder (until I can think of more): Usually in news stories such as this where a family's pet tragically dies, we are treated to a photograph of the dog taken in more happier times.... Hmmmm? Haven't seen a photo of the dog yet, have you?
Yes I have. Even assuming I hadn't, what's your point? No pictures of the dog somehow casts doubt onto these folks' story? That's a stretch, to say the least.
If your argument is that no dog locks their jaws on their prey, then maybe we are arguing symantics here. Bite and hold on under duress is what I mean by lock on. Pits can or cannot do this? I say they can, do and have. I also say this ability has likely caused their popular bad rap and may have influeneced their use/training as fghting dogs.
If I'm wrong, please point out specifically how I am so I can better educate myself on the topic.
"He has a right to that opinion."
He has a right, as I have the right to hold that his is wrong.
The last people I'm aware of to value animal life on the save level as human life (other than a few Hindu cow owners) was the ancient Baal worshipers. They had a right to their opinion too. That is ... until their Creator agreed with them and wiped them out.
Even if the dog had laid down on the ground in complete submission and there was no doubt that the officer shot the dog maliciously, it would never be sufficient to call for the death penalty for a human (psych ward maybe, but not death).
If these people calling for the death penalty for Officer Hall would stop and consider whether they would want to be judged with the same merciless harshness for every questionable judgement they had, this thread wouldn't be so busy.
You care more about a stranger's dog than you do a stranger.
The people who want the death penalty for the officer, value a man's life less than or the same as a dog's life.
It might be natural for you to care about your dog more than a stranger, but God calls us to a much higher standard. If you really feel the officer acted maliciously, then it's not wrong to be angry, but before you go get your rope, remember who Jesus suggested throw the first stone.
Mathew 5:43 "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' 44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you salute only your brethren, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 48 You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
I don't want a rope. I just want this hothead not to be allowed to lawfully carry a weapon in connection with his job, every again. He can't be trusted not to kill a human for "spooking" him, next time.
And, he deserves some of the same kind of terror he inflicted on this family.
The James Smoak family of Saluda, North Carolina, had been removed from the car and handcuffed in what police called a "felony stop." The money seen flying came from Smoak's wallet which he had left on top of the car at a gas station.
Apparently that's what started this. Someone thought it looked like they were throwing money out the window and called police.
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