A Wyckoff police officer investigating a burglary report shot and killed a German Shepherd whom his chief said grabbed hold of the officer’s boot after he went to the wrong address.
Witnesses, however, are claiming the officer shot Otto from a few feet away in the chest, then “approache[d] the dog at close range and fire[d] a bullet through his back” after neighbors tried to tell him that Goran and Olga Vukobratovic’s home was the wrong house.
Wyckoff Police Chief Benjamin Fox provided this version of yesterday’s events:
“On April 29 at 3:45pm, Wyckoff Police received a call of a possible burglary at 621 Lawlins Road. Ptl. Kyle Ferreira responded and he mistakenly went to 622 Lawlins Road.
“The officer knocked on the front door and received no answer so he began to walk around the home to check the exterior.
“He entered an unlocked fence gate and went to the rear of the house where he observed a window standing open.
“Believing that this was a point of entry of the reported burglary and not knowing at this point that he was at the wrong home, or if any suspects could have still been on scene, the officer drew his service revolver.
“A large growling German Shepherd lunged out of the open window, bit the officer on his right foot and latched onto his boot. He fired his gun at the dog four times to get him to release and two bullets struck the dog.
“Wyckoff Animal control took the dog to an animal hospital for treatment and the dog did not survive.
“The investigation determined that the window to the home is left open as a type of door allowing the dog to let itself in and out of the home.
“Nobody was at home at the time of the incident and the homeowners were subsequently notified.
“The officer did not sustain any injury due to the dog biting and latching on to his leather boot.”
This version of events was provided by Goran Vukobratovic:
“Police officer came and parked on the street.
“Walked 25 yards down the driveway, passed front door and went straight into fenced back yard.
“Neighbors across the street who called the police tried to signal him that he was at the wrong house.
“Otto came out from the house through the ground level window, which is his doggie door.
“Police officer shoot[s] the dog just few yards from the entry gate and far away from window or any actual ‘investigation’ and 20 yards from the window and the house.
“Per our neighbors who watched the whole thing, it all took few seconds since arriving.
“RIP Otto.”
The following is excerpted from a version of the events that was published last night on Facebook, with the approval of Igor and Olga Vukobratovic, by Chris Scala of Mahwah:
“- 4PM: Igor’s neighbor notices a bent window screen, a broken light, and other signs of a potential intruder. He drives himself to the Wyckoff Police to file a report. Dispatch tells him an officer will arrive within the hour.
- 4:20PM: Officer arrives on the scene and parks in front of Igor’s home. Neighbors who made the report wait at their door watching as the patrol car parks on the street.
- Officer exits the vehicle and proceeds down Igor’s driveway, neighbors are confused and try to signal to the police that they are at the wrong house.
- Officer by passes the front door, the garage, the large windows near the entrance, and lets himself into the back yard, hand on his weapon.
- Otto, being protective of his home, hears the officer and enters the backyard through his doggie door and begins barking.
- Otto approaches the officer and stands his ground a few feet away. Officer draws and fires a shot into his chest. He then approaches the dog at close range and fires a bullet through his back. The neighbors witness everything, while frantically screaming at the officer to get him to stop.
- Officer then calls Animal Control for a muzzle and restraint due to him being “aggressive.” Igor arrives on the scene, by coincidence, finding multiple patrol cars outside his home….
- Otto lies bleeding in the yard while Animal Control muzzles him and restrains him, taking him to the Oradell Animal Hospital where he eventually succumbs to his injuries and dies.”
Scala said Otto “was not even remotely posing a threat or attacking him in any way” and that he officer fired his gun “in broad daylight at a moving target in a residential neighborhood filled with children, families, and pets. Otto was a fantastic, smart, well-behaved dog that never showed an ounce of aggression to anyone.”
If it was my dog I would put a bullet in the officer. _________________ jt09 wrote:
I used to get all happy when the girlie would make a colonic appointment. That meant she was going to be breaking out the "fine china" soon.
Nmballa, I think that the people who founded this country would think you were in the right.
Lately, I have been considering the idea of disarming the regular police force and relegating them to the role that they usually fill anyway, which is report taking paper pushers who show up after the fact, write information down, write parking and speeding tickets, and then do nothing to actually catch the people who stole your car/broke into your house/ran off with your wallet. Why does that officer need to carry a gun?
Maybe we need a smaller, higher trained and more highly selective armed police force that responds to crimes in progress.
i don't know, just spitballing here.
I think it's pretty fkucked up that in most places if an armed intruder breaks down your door, you can shoot him. Except if he has a badge. Then they can shoot your animals, ransack your house, push your wife and kids face down in the carpet and point guns at them, and you just have to sit there and take it, even if they have the wrong house. _________________ I walk 47 miles of barb wire, I got a cobra snake for a necktie, a brand new house up on the road side, and it's made out of rattlesnake hide
A Houston-based federal judge ruled that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration does not owe the owner of a small Texas trucking company anything, not even the cost of repairing the bullet holes to a tractor-trailer truck that the agency used without his permission for a wild 2011 drug cartel sting that resulted in the execution-style murder of the truck’s driver, who was secretly working as a government informant.
The ruling by U.S. District Judge Lee Rosenthal, which was made public late Monday, heads off a potentially embarrassing civil trial that was supposed to start early next month at the federal courthouse.
Andy Vickery, a lawyer representing trucking company, said he was floored by the ruling.
“She is basically saying you can’t sue the feds,” he said by phone.
And he emailed this reaction:
A federally deputized corporal from the Houston Police Department decides to pay your small company’s driver to drive your truck to the Mexican border, load it up with illegal drugs, and try to catch some bad guys. He knows that the driver is lying to “the owner” – although he doesn’t know your name or identity and doesn’t bother to find out. The bad guys outwit the cops. Your company’s driver is killed. Your truck is riddled with bullet holes.
Query: is our federal government liable to pay for the damages to you and your property?
Answer: Nope.
He said an appeal is already in the works.
Trucking company owner Craig Patty has said that the truck was used and damaged in a drug sting against one of Mexico’s most violent cartels without his permission and that his family lived in extreme fear they would face retaliation from the cartel, even though they had no idea what the government was doing.
sought up to $6.4 million. Patty had said from the start his main goal was to shed light on the case and have the facts be known publicly.
Officials have declined to discuss what, if any, compensation has privately been paid to the family of the deceased truck driving informant, Lawrence Chapa, who was working for a DEA task force that included federal agents as well as local law-enforcement officers.
With Rosenthal’s ruling, the government isn’t liable to damage to the truck, which was left sprayed with bullet holes and its cab that was splattered with blood.
Back in November 2011, A DEA task force was supposed to be watching truck driver Chapa from the ground and the air as he delivered a load of marijuana fresh from the Rio Grande Valley to Houston. The plan was for Chapa to take them to where the load was to be delivered and arrest cartel members there.
But as the truck entered northwest Houston under the watch of approximately two dozen law enforcement officers, several heavily armed Los Zetas cartel-connected soldiers in sport utility vehicles converged on Patty’s truck.
In the ensuing firefight, Patty’s truck was wrecked and riddled with bullet holes, and a plainclothes Houston police officer shot and wounded a plainclothes Harris County Sheriff’s Office deputy who was mistaken for a gangster.
The truck’s driver was killed and four attackers were arrested and charged with capital murder.
Patty’s truck was impounded and later released to him, but was out of service for months. The DEA refused to pay for the damages, as did Patty’s insurance company, which ruled that the truck had been used in a criminal act, and therefore the damages weren’t covered.
Patty had argued that he and his family lived through extreme emotional distress after fears that the cartel would come after them for some perception they had been complicit with police.
He also said that losing the truck for nearly 90 days after it had been damaged nearly crippled his business, which only had two trucks at the time.
Fred Shepherd, who worked with Vickery on the case said his client is astonished that he has no recourse.
“It is not just that you can’t sue the federal government., but that fed law enforcement agencies under this ruling can use anybody’s property to do anything they want to further their law enforcement mission and not have to go get the permission from the owner of the property to do it.”
DOVER, Del. -- A police dashcam video shows a black suspect being kicked in the face by a white Dover police officer who was charged this week with assault.
The video released Thursday by police is part of a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union over the August 2013 incident.
The video shows Cpl. Thomas Webster IV, who was responding to a disturbance at a gas station, kicking Lateef Dickerson. Dickerson, responding to commands to get on the ground, is on his hands and knees.
Webster was arrested Monday after a grand jury indicted him for second-degree assault.
A previous grand jury declined to indict Webster last year, and the U.S. attorney's office found no civil rights violation.
The ACLU subsequently sued police on Dickerson's behalf.
ALTON, Ill. -- Surveillance video showing an Alton police officer using pepper spray on two handcuffed teen inmates could cost the southwestern Illinois town's police chief his job.
Aldermen voted Wednesday night to reject Mayor Brant Walker's reappointment of Chief Jason "Jake" Simmons after video showing two male inmates being sprayed while in a city jail holding cell was broadcast this week by KMOV-TV, The (Alton) Telegraph (bit.ly/1E7vODi) reported Thursday. The video appears to show the two juveniles sitting passively on a bench before the officer enters the cell, squirts the spray and then walks away.
Simmons remains on the job because the vote is non-binding.
The chief said the late the incident on Jan. 26 is under investigation. Madison County prosecutors have also asked Illinois State Police to investigate.
A police spokeswoman told the newspaper that the video won't be publicly released because it shows juvenile suspects. A local NAACP official provided the St. Louis TV station with the video. James Gray, president of the Alton Branch of the NAACP, told a KMOV reporter that he got a copy of the video in the mail and provided it to the television station.
"I am extremely disappointed that someone would release a video including juveniles to anyone outside of the legal process," Simmons said in a written statement. [i bet you are, chief!]
The police chief said he learned of the incident in March but didn't receive a written report until two months later. He added that officer Vince Warlick, a 19-year veteran, remains on the force but is no longer assigned to the city jail.
In a sweeping policy change on how the Gloucester Police Department will handle certain drug crimes, Chief Leonard Campanello says addicts who surrender their illegal drugs and ask for help will be offered treatment options instead of handcuffs.
Campanello, who made the announcement during a weekend forum in Gloucester, is expected to travel to Washington, D.C., next week to meet with members of the state's congressional delegation, including U.S. Rep. Seth W. Moulton, D-Salem, and the state's two Democratic senators, Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey.
At a citywide forum Saturday, Campanello announced major changes in how police in this small Essex County city will handle the opioid and drug epidemic gripping Massachusetts and the rest of the country.
"We are poised to make revolutionary changes in the way we treat this disease," he told residents at the forum.
Any addict who walks into the Gloucester Police Department with drugs and the remainder of their drug equipment – needles, pipes or other paraphernalia – and asks for help will not be criminally charged, Campanello said. Instead, they will be steered into a treatment program to help them detox and recover.
"We will assign them an 'angel' who will be their guide through the process," Campanello said. "Not in hours or days, but on the spot."
Quote:
Campanello, who spent seven years as a plainclothes narcotics detective, said "lives are literally at stake."
"I've never arrested a tobacco addict, nor have I ever seen one turned down for help when they develop lung cancer, whether or not they have insurance," he said. "The reasons for the difference in care between a tobacco addict and an opiate addict is stigma and money. Petty reasons to lose a life."
this site/youtube are pretty heavily skewed anti-sheriff/jailer and some of their premises are skewed, but this was a huge Bubb Rubb on how one guy went in to do a weekend in jail, and came out dead:
Topeka, KS — “Josie” was a 26-pound miniature pinscher-boxer mix, who was rescued seven years ago, and became a beloved member of 72-year-old Harriette Macnish’s family.
“She was wonderful, and she loved us,” Harriette Macnish said.
This loving 7-year relationship would be violently brought to an end, however, on July 13 when Topeka Police Officer, Michael Cruse would enter the backyard of the Macnish’s home, and kill their Josie.
According to the Capital-Journal, a Topeka officer shot the dog twice about 10:45 a.m. that day while responding to a false burglary alarm, the police department said in a news release Monday.
According to the police report, after entering the backyard, “the officer then saw a dog begin charging at him in an aggressive manner.”
The report goes on, “I attempted to place time and distance between the dog and myself by running backwards. The dog continued to aggressively run toward me to attack,” while also barking and growling.
“When the dog continued to attack toward me,” Cruse explained in his report. “I obtained my department issued Glock 9mm Model 17 from my holster and shot the dog 2 times effectively ending the imminent attack.”
The officer’s body cam caught the entire incident on video. The small 26-lb dog comes running from around the corner when she’s met with 2 shots from the officer’s pistol. The graphic video is saddening.
It was April 30th 2002 when, responding in his cruiser to what turned out to be a false alarm, Officer Michael Cruse ran a stop sign at excessive speed, colliding with the pickup truck of 61 year-old Leonard Porter, killing Porter.
Cruse faced a bevy of charges but ultimately pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor involuntary manslaughter charge and was sentenced to one year in jail for the death.
Thanks to blue privilege he spent 30 days in jail, 60 days on house arrest, and less time on probation than most people who get convicted of trespassing.
And though he was initially fired by the Topeka Police Department, successful arbitration returned him to the streets the following year. I mentioned blue privilege right? Good, because it gets better.
Wow, doesn't seem like there was cause to shoot him. I wonder if there is any audio of the conversation. _________________ If love is blind, why is lingerie so popular?
Glad I am of age where my interactions with Police are of the very occasional traffic stop.(knock wood)
I am sure the Sheriff being executed in Houston will just add that much more fuel to this fire. Bubb Rubb up all around. _________________ Is President Obama a Keynesian?
Looks like he jerks his arm down quick first before they started shooting.
no, it doesn't. his arm comes down when he's shot.
TnR6Rida wrote:
Could have thought he was reaching for a weapon.
the weapon he was hiding where? dude has no shirt on and he's turned all the way around so the cops have seen anything that might have been in his waistband (which was nothing).
what really happened was a guy with his arms in the air got gunned down. He was not advancing toward the cops. He wasn't holding a gun. He was not a threat to the cops at that moment. That man should not be dead. _________________ Work SUX!
Looks like his arm comes down before the shot to me.
let's assume that you are correct and his arm is coming down. so what? how does that change anything in regards to shooting someone? he's still not advancing. he still has no weapon.
At first, Flores is seen running shirtless in front of a home as the officers approach him. He then seems to put his hands up moments before they shoot him to the ground.
At first, Flores is seen running shirtless in front of a home as the officers approach him. He then seems to put his hands up moments before they shoot him to the ground.
Because the video is shot from a long ass way away with a cell phone. I see a guy running around erratically with a wife beater on not listening to police at all. Does he put his hands up eventually? Yes, but for about a second, and to me seems like he jerks his hand down quickly like he's reaching for something. Could I be wrong? Of course I could be. Sorry I'm not a member of the media trying to cause more riots by jumping to the conclusion that the cops just pulled up and killed this man for absolutely no reason.
I think the "shirtless" in this case refers to the more formal definition of shirt. It looks to me like he is wearing a tank top undershirt. edit** or maybe the whiteness in the shape of a tank is tan line. Hard to tell.
The context of the situation does matter as well. They are called because he has violently abused his kid and wife. You can see him "move aggresively" at the police about 10ish(40-41 on video) seconds before he puts his hands up and is shot. I will agree the split second of the shooting looks horrible. _________________ Is President Obama a Keynesian?
The new video shows, a "very clear view" of the confrontation, Bexar County District Attorney Nico LaHood said Tuesday. LaHood said it was unclear what the suspect's intent was in raising his hands and cautioned against a rush to judgment.
Sounds like this new video makes it clear that he had raised his hands. I think the DA would have commented if the more clear video showed he could have been reaching for something before he was shot.
As a byproduct, is the rest of the country going to learn how to pronounce "Bexar"?
A second video shows a Texas man with "something in his hand" before he was fatally shot by deputies, Bexar County Sheriff Susan Pamerleau said Wednesday.
"We believe it was a knife," the sheriff told reporters.
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