Police shot dog while raiding wrong house, lawsuit says
Tresa Baldas,
FLINT, Mich. — A pair of dog owners here have
filed a federal lawsuit against a state investigator, alleging he shot their 15-year-old
dog in the face while raiding the wrong house.
According to the lawsuit, a team of officers
was trying to catch a fugitive but ended up at the wrong house with an innocent
bystander getting shot: an old mixed-breed pooch named Chloe.
Chloe survived, but has had three surgeries
and lost part of her tongue and one canine tooth. Her breed is not known. Her
owners claim their constitutional rights were violated: The officers
unreasonably destroyed or seized their property — in this case, Chloe — which
is prohibited under the Fourth Amendment.
Here is what triggered the legal action,
according to the lawsuit filed Friday in U.S. District Court:
Flint residents Erica Morena and Katti Putnam
were sitting in their house June 18 when police suddenly raided their home.
They were looking for a fugitive, who was actually next door.
A Michigan Department of Corrections
investigator went in their backyard.
Chloe heard commotion and the dog came down
the stairs of the house and ventured out the back door, which was open, and
made her way to the backyard.
That's when the investigator shot her right
below the nose, according to a neighbor who witnessed the shooting. She had on
a collar. She wasn't barking. And she has no history of biting anyone.
Chloe's owners heard the shot and ran to her
rescue. They also heard the troopers say they were at the wrong house.
The officers told Chloe's owners to take her
to the vet and said, "We'll take care of this."
The owners went to the vet, then got a
lawyer: Lawyer Christopher Olson of Royal Oak, Mich., who has filed several
similar dog-shooting lawsuits.
"They really had no right to be
there," Olson said of the officers. "The police went to the wrong
house and shot these folks' dog in their own backyard. ... They turned the situation
into a violent one."
And, he added, "They recognized there
was a mistake."
Corrections officials were not available for
comment.
Olson, who is seeking unspecified punitive
and compensatory damages, said this is not an isolated incident. He has several
dog-injury lawsuits pending against police, including one written about in Time
magazine.
“They turned the situation into a violent
one. ... They recognized there was a mistake.”
Christopher Olson, Royal Oak, Mich.
Police nationwide are mishandling dog encounters
because they have "zero training" in this area, he said, noting such
video training is available for free online.
"Had they followed the protocols in
these training videos, this would not have happened," Olson said of
Chloe's shooting. "It's too bad not only for my clients and the dog, ...
but this is something that is a nationwide epidemic. It's a big problem and
it's something that doesn't necessarily have to happen."
In Chloe's case, he said: "There was
time, and when there's time, you need to isolate the dog."
Olson also said the officers have not made
good on their promise to "take care of this." He said Chloe's
veterinary bill still has not been covered. And when his clients call the
police or state officials about it, he said no one returns their calls.
