A family has filed a lawsuit after Georgia cops came onto their property, killed their beloved dog and forced the father to cut off its head.
The post Family Sues After Cops Killed Their Dog, Forced the Dad to Cut Off Its Head On Video appeared first on The Free Thought Project.
A cop"s fear of a mid-sized dog inside a family"s home resulted in the cop firing a bullet which missed the dog and struck a 9-year-old girl in the head.
A police officer who shot two dogs multiple times blamed the neighbors who questioned his actions when police stood there and watched the dog suffer.
The family claims an off-duty officer shot and killed their dog for barking at his Pitt Bull, endangering several children who were riding bikes nearby.
Greenville, SC — The Free Thought Project has provided in-depth coverage of numerous accounts in which police officers have shot and killed dogs—sometimes those dogs were stray animals, and other times they lived at the homes where police were called. But the following story is about a family whose puppy was killed by police because it was in the yard next to the house they were searching.
Greenville County Sheriff’s Deputies were serving a search warrant at the home next to the residence of Marissa Gilliland. But instead of focusing on their targeted address, deputies entered Gilliland’s yard.
According to family friend Heather-Perez Escobar, the family’s 10-month-old dog “was outside and started barking at them.” The officer who entered the yard responded by opening fire and killing the dog.
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“Chico” as he is known, was hit by the first bullet. Escobar said that even though “the dog then turned around and ran towards the house,” the officer then “shot him two more times for NO REASON. This dog was on NO WAY aggressive, he was barking to protect his home.”
Showing no signs of remorse, police left the dog in Gilliland’s front yard. She witnessed the encounter and is now devastated by the cruel and inhumane treatment that led to the loss of her pet.
Gilliland told WYFF 4 News that their dog was friendly and the only thing it would have done to the deputy when it ran toward him was lick him or play “paw” with him. She said he was in no way aggressive with the officers and would never hurt anyone. Describing what happened when he was hit, Gilliland said the first shot the deputy fired broke his leg, and then the next few killed him.
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The family has organized a GoFundMe page to pay for legal counsel in a lawsuit against the city, the sheriff’s department, and the officers. The fund raising page’s description reads:
“On July 24th 2017 my precious baby Chico was murdered by a Greenville County Sheriffs officer. We will not stop until we get justice for Chico. We have found legal counsel and we are trying to raise the funds necessary to have this killer fired and prosecuted as well as file a lawsuit for the wrongful death of my Chico and pain and suffering. We know this will not bring Chico back but if this will save other familes from going through this kind of pain and suffering then Chico will have some kind of justice. Greenville County needs to know that this kind of behavior is not acceptable and will not be tolerated. Thank you to all my friends and supporters. Please keep me and my family in your thoughts and prayers.”
In a statement from the Sheriff’s Office, Master Deputy Drew Pinciaro said, “It is not our intent or practice to use deadly force on animals. In this situation, the dog came at the deputy in an aggressive manner while he was serving a search warrant and that is why he shot the dog. Due to the dog being aggressive and unrestrained, that is why he used the level of force he did.”
Heartbroken and choking back tears Gilliland said, “I have never been this hurt in my life…Other people say, ‘He is just a dog,’ but he wasn’t. He was my best friend. My everything. He was family.”
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She and her husband do not have any kids and she said she treated “Chico” like he was her own son. Distraught, she told reporters, “I can’t take this pain anymore…I am hurting so bad. My heart is broken.”
Minneapolis, MN – Sadly, there’s been another cop versus dog shooting. This time the horrific shooting took place in Minneapolis and didn’t involve just one family pet — but their two dogs.
As TFTP has noted, if citizens kill police dogs, it’s practically considered murder, and the suspects are charged with felonious assault on a police officer (dog). But since police wear a badge, they can kill our pets at will with hardly any ramifications.
Jennifer LeMay did her part to protect her home and property by installing security cameras, and we’re glad she did because the shooting of her two dogs was caught on camera.
The two Staffordshire Terriers, Cisco and Rocko are owned by LeMay and her four children, and have been in the family since they were puppies. They’re therapy dogs, prescribed by a physician to help LeMay’s two sons who struggle with severe anxiety.
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The LeMay family were camping in Wisconsin when two of the children, both teenage girls, 13 and 18, wanted to come home early because the elder had to get back to work at a local fast food restaurant. They arrived home at around 8:50 pm Saturday, but when they did, they accidentally triggered their own security alarm.
The security company was notified that it was a false alarm, and the alarm was canceled at 8:54. But police were already on their way to the LeMay residence. One of the two responding officers stayed in the front yard while another officer scaled the 7ft high fence in the back.
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That’s when he met Cisco and Rocko. From the video, the officer can be seen drawing his weapon as the dogs slowly approached while one is seen wagging his tail.
The officer didn’t kneel or offer an extended hand for Cisco to smell him, he simply pointed his gun at the dog and fired. Cisco wasn’t even charging at the officer when he was shot. Rocko came just as quickly, and he, too, was hit with the officer’s spray of bullets.
The officer then did what he probably should have done. As the two dogs were laying, bleeding, and badly injured, the officer jumped back over the fence. Why he did not first attempt to retreat is anyone’s guess. Now LeMay is demanding answers and footing the bill from an officer’s assault on her pets.
The 13-year-old saw her dogs get shot by a so-called officer of the peace, and was surely traumatized. The officer who was in the front of the home then did what he should have done in the beginning. He knocked on the front door.
The LeMay’s said the officers told them not to transport the dogs to the hospital because animal control would be coming over to get them but they never came.
Later that night, they were able to get the pets the much-needed surgery and medical care they should have gotten immediately following the shooting. According to the Star Tribune;
Both dogs went to the emergency vet Saturday night. Ciroc was shot in the jaw, Rocko in the side, face and shoulder. So far, LeMay has paid $900 for Ciroc and brought him home; he still needs $5,000 to $7,000 worth of surgery at the University of Minnesota, she said. Rocko came home Sunday night. A GoFundMe page was established to help LeMay pay her vet bills.
LeMay is now demanding answers. The police department sent over a supervisor to talk with the family, Lt. Derrick Barnes. And while they say he was as contrite as he could be, the pain is still very real and fresh for the family who now has to watch their dogs as they suffer through a long and painful recovery.
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The pain, anguish, and anger can be sensed in LeMay’s comments when she spoke with reporters.
He was wagging his tail…My dog wasn’t even moving, lunging toward him or anything…My dogs were doing their job on my property…We have a right to be safe in our yard.
As for the attempt of the police department to reach out and express their condolences, LeMay had these words to say to Det. Barnes:
(Barnes was) as genuine and compassionate as he could be, without overstepping his boundaries.
Police spokesman Corey Schmidt issued a one-paragraph statement:
We are aware of the recent incident involving MPD officers responding to an audible residential burglary alarm and while at this call an MPD officer discharged their firearm, striking two dogs belonging to the homeowner. Anytime an officer discharges their firearm in the line of duty there is an investigation. We are in the process of reviewing the video posted online, as well as the officer’s body camera video.
LeMay did not say whether or not she plans to sue, but there have been a few victories in court when police have killed family pets in the line of duty. Hopefully, she’ll file a lawsuit and teach those officers a lesson so they won’t continue to devastate people’s lives by killing their beloved pets.
Parkersburg, WV — In 2015, the Free Thought Project broke the story and the video of a courageous mother, Tiffanie Hupp who stepped in front of an officer who was about to shoot her dog.
For stopping the trooper from killing her dog and getting slammed to the ground in front of her 4-year-old son, Tiffanie was charged with misdemeanor obstruction.
Of course, Hupp pleaded not guilty, as the video clearly showed that she was the victim. However, the city railroaded Tiffanie by forcing her to use their public appointed defender, with obvious conflicts of interest.
She was given a public defender who was married to a state trooper. She was told she had no legal grounds for a lawsuit because she lacked serious bodily harm and she was well on her way to being declared guilty for a crime she clearly did not commit.
However, thanks to a selfless attorney who saw Hupp’s story, Tiffanie was able to fight back. Charleston Attorney, David Schles took her case pro bono.
“I was shown the video of the incident last August and I found it unjustifiable for Tiffanie to be charged with any crime for her reasonable, non-forcible, actions to defend Buddy the dog. When I was told the lawyer appointed to represent Tiffanie was married to a state trooper and did not inform Tiffanie of this relationship, I decided I would represent Tiffanie pro bono if she wanted my services,” Schles told The Free Thought Project.
And, in 2016, Hupp was found not guilty.
Now, after that good news in 2016, Hupp has taken the fight back to the city in 2017. A national group advocating for the humane treatment of animals has filed a lawsuit on behalf Hupp.
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In a release last week, the Animal Legal Defense Fund announced the suit.
As the News and Sentinel reports:
According to the release, Hupp is one of three plaintiffs and the other defendants in the case are the West Virginia State Police and Col. C.R. “Jay” Smithers, who was State Police superintendent at the time.
The complaint alleges excessive force, unlawful arrest and unlawful search and seizure, as well as malicious prosecution, negligent training of a police officer and the intentional infliction of emotional distress, battery and slander.
The incident began after a neighborhood argument escalated to the point of a man calling the police to prevent further turmoil. The homeowner, Cliff, called the police after his neighbor allegedly threatened him. However, when the police showed up, they were more interested in Cliff’s dog than preventing any disturbance.
Randall Hupp, Tiffanie’s father, who gave us the video, explains that after the cops had arrived, the situation was calm, but then they quickly got out of control.
Things were going fine and my son decided to film for posterity sake in case anything should happen. There were two dogs present in the area at the time of the video, a black dog which was the neighbors dog that was running loose…and Cliffs dog, which was chained up.
Cliff’s dog, which was on a chain, merely barked as the officer walked up to the home. His tail was still wagging, and he seemed to calm down immediately. However, the fact that this dog was on a chain, not growling, nor posing any threat whatsoever, was of no consequence to the state trooper who quickly pulled out his service pistol, took aim, and almost killed the dog.
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Before the state trooper could shoot the dog, however, Tiffanie courageously stepped in between the dog and the officer to prevent the puppycide.
The state trooper, seemingly offended by Hupp’s attempt to thwart his dog killing, then proceeded to attack her. Hupp explained to the Free Thought Project, last year, what happened next,
The trooper approached with gun in hand, grabbed her by the arm and slammed her to the ground. After the troopers realized that they had been filmed, they entered the home illegally without warrant or probable cause and confiscated all digital devices including my 4-year-old grandson’s tablet. We only recently received the devices back and released the video.
During the trial, Hupp told the Free Thought Project that she had a hard time not bursting out in court when Trooper Cook, who assaulted her, took the stand.
“When the trooper was on the stand, it was hard to keep my mouth shut…lie after lie after lie. He told them I had a crossbow in my hand, that I stepped up to him, not in between (him and the dog), that I raised my hands at him first,” explained Tiffanie.
But the video proved these were all lies, illustrating the importance of filming police encounters. Had Tiffanie’s husband decided not to pull out his camera that fateful day, an innocent woman would have been found guilty of a crime she did not commit.
Now, it is time for the police, who tried to railroad Hupp, to be held accountable.
Hupp and the other plaintiffs are seeking restitution, including funds so her son can be treated by a mental health professional, which they have not been able to afford, the release says. The child suffers from anxiety and emotional distress when in the presence of police officers, the release says, as reported by the News and Sentinel.
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“It shocks the conscience that police would arrest and prosecutors would seek to incarcerate a woman who did nothing other than protect a dog from being illegally shot,” one of Hupp’s lawyers, John Campbell, says in the release.
