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.'''
You insult ole Barney by comparing him to this incompetent jerk of a jack-booted thug.
G-d dammit!
The owner himself stated that it was a BULLdog-Boxer mix. NOT a Pit bull! What the F is wrong with these idiot reporters?
How tough is it to get the facts straight? Or are they trying to get sympathy for the cop because he was almost the victim of a nasty old Pit bull?
DeMilitarize the Police!!
Sorry but I take strong issue with that. First, any police officer takes the position KNOWS that they are holding the public trust.
It is given to them to PROTECT, not abuse. When they fail to protect, that level that the Public holds them to is deminished. BY their own deeds. And further. When a Cop kills, we MUST hold them to the same LEGAL standard as they hold the rest of us. Otherwise it is Tyranny.
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. This statement is where the true problem with this police action lies. Can someone please explain how the THP concluded a FELONY ROBBERY had been committed by the discovery of a wallet on the highway with money spilled from it and STILL IN IT when recovered? This is what mystifies me, the stop never should have been made and the wallet should have been taken to the police lost-and-found. No one reported the wallet stolen. So why do the police get to assume that to be the case with a wallet that CONTAINS cash?
I've wondered that too. If they have a report of a robbery, why didn't they just go to the gas station where the cell phone busybody made the call from? Surely they would have found no evidence of a robbery. And most certainly they would have found at least one attendant that would have set the record straight before they tear off down the highway looking for something or someone to shoot?
Well, hellfire Barney! If it's alive...that means you can kill it! Shoot it! Shoot it! Shoot it!
Still doesn't change the underlying problem which is how can this stop be justified to begin with.
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