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.'''

[BenR2]

Really. I don't see what the fuss is all about. The dog disobeyed a direct order.

The officer said: "Come out with your paws up!" And the damn pooch ran out on all floors.

NO DOUBT: The dog had it coming to him!

Hell: They were pulled over for RWD (Riding While Dog) in the first place!

[caltrop]

I've seen the video on TV. The dog had a high pitched yippie bark, short legs and long hair. It looked more like a lap dog than a pit bull to me and would probably have to have bitten the cop twice for him to notice had he been busy eating a donut instead of itching to shoot his shotgun.

I agree the cops probably weren't concerned about reprecussions when this happened. Perhaps when a jury comes in with a million dollar verdict against the Sheriff's Department somebody in authority will clean house and, when the new policemen are hired, will explain they can't act like Jack-Booted-Thugs without severe personal reprecussions.

[EBUCK]

See my pic below of a mix (bull/boxer)

[Wright is right!]

"I couldn't get the video to download and play clean, so I can't make a size judgement myself. But wouldn't a full grown pit-boxer mix be a medium to large size dog?"

GEEZ, Louise. It's not a pit-boxer mix. It's a Boxer/English Bulldog mix. English bulldogs are small. A "Pit Bull" is a Staffordshire Terrier, with a huge head, short stubby legs and a stiff frame.

Hard to believe you've missed the video on TV. Everyone's been playing it.

Michael

[EBUCK]

The whole situation could have been avoided if the cops were still trained to protect and serve instead of the "us" against "them" attitudes.

Exactly...I really doubt that this cop violated PD procedure...

EBUCK

[EBUCK]

LOL, I shouldn't be laughing but you "made me do it"...

[EBUCK]

See my #75 for pic of boxer/Bulldog mix, (not "below" as I tried to direct)

[Centurion2000]

An officer makes a mistake for whatever reason and someone may die from that mistake. But we shouldn't consider it murder. He was on the job, at worst he made a mistake. That's how we should view it.

So when a trucker makes a mistake and crushes a compact car with his 18 wheeler, we should just say that's a mistake and not do anything right ?

Or how about the ship captain that mismanages a ship and kills a few hundred passengers ?

Or the pilot that crashes a plane ? (of course they usually die first in the crash)

[MadelineZapeezda]

Make the cop work in a humane society shelter for a few years. He could learn the breeds of dogs.

[SerpentDove]

>>
OK, just to play devils advocate here...

You are the cop, you are arresting a family for carjacking/robery (??????)<<

The cops should be fired (wrongful arrest) and hopefully brought up on criminal charges. This is inexcusable IMHO.

If the law says this type of thing is okay, the law is dead wrong.

[Wright is right!]

Your #75 is a Boxer/American Bulldog mix. This dog in question was a Boxer/English Bulldawg. English bulldogs are smaller, and the mix got his legs from the Boxer side of the mix. Good point of reference, though.

Michael

[babygene]

Suppose you had a CCW permit, a little dog aproached you and you pulled out your gun and blew it away...

What do you suppose would happen to you? (Hint: It would be a lot worse than geting bitten on the leg)

[EBUCK]

e could but that wouldn't change anything...he still would have shot.

(you can change your screen name?)

[EBUCK]

If the law says this type of thing is okay, the law is dead wrong.

Yup. Dead wrong.

[TankerKC]

``I noticed that it trained in right on me; the dog's coming right at me,'' he said.

It’s coming right for us!

Wav File

[EBUCK]

Not much smaller though. Quite a bit more "squat" but in relative proportions IMO.

Regardless, the breed shouldn't even matter. There should have been some common sense exercised as soon as the cops started hauling Mom, Dad and kids out of the car.

[rolling_stone]

I have a question maybe someone can answer, from the Putnam Pit site you can read the Cokeville investigating officers report.

http://www.putnampit.com/pithome.htm

It states that Hall & McWhorter did not activate their in car video cameras off because of the "possibility of a system override of the other units". A third Cokeville officer, Sergeant Lamb pulled up behind McWhorter, but no mention is made if he activated his car video or not...What is this fear of overriding other units, is that police jargon for may possibly override our reports by showing facts that conflict with our reports?

According to who I believe to be the manufacturer of their equipment there can be as many as ten vehicles in close proximity without crosstalk or degraded audio signal...


http://mobile-vision.com/Frame.htm (go to microphone)

What good are the video & audio if they are not used?

[EBUCK]

[chimera]

Perhaps when a jury comes in with a million dollar verdict against the Sheriff's Department somebody in authority will clean house and, when the new policemen are hired, will explain they can't act like Jack-Booted-Thugs without severe personal reprecussions.

This is what it will take, but I doubt it will happen in this case. They've already lined up a Maryland police official (nothing like going for an unbiased review) to protect one of their own and organize the wagon-circling. I doubt if the cops will pay any price for killing a dog. What, they killed that one Selvulpeda (sp?) kid sometime ago and that one has disappeared down the memory hole. Anyone know whatever became of that case?