Witnesses to a Sunday incident in which Lafayette police officers wounded a dog after it bit one of them said the shooting could have been avoided.
The incident began when officers were called to a gas station about a disturbance between a man and a woman. Upon arrival, they found Mr. Stapleton walking away with a dog on a leash.
Mr. Stapleton and others who said they were present offered a different version, portraying one officer acting aggressively and using profanity to address both Stapleton and bystanders. Stapleton stated he had left the gas station after being attacked without provocation by an intoxicated woman who is known to cause problems.
He said he left to get away from the woman and was walking to his home with the Rottweiler, named Beauvoir, on a leash beside him. Stapleton stated he saw an officer armed with a Taser stun gun approaching him and he immediately put his hands in the air and leaned toward a fence, but held onto the leash.
Stapleton stated that when the officer arrived, he was told in a profane manner to let the dog go or “I’m going to Taser you.” Stapleton stated he pleaded to be allowed to tie Beauvoir up because he feared it would bite someone if he let it go — but he was not allowed to.
A friend, said he arrived with Stapleton’s roommate, after they heard about what was going on. He stated he saw Stapleton leaning against a fence with his hands in the air, officers surrounding him. He was submitting His friend stated. He wasn’t resisting. He then said he heard Stapleton repeatedly asking the officers to let him tie up the dog. The friends roommate added he planned to take Beauvoir, which belongs to another individual, whom the two know.
But Charles said officers refused to allow him to take hold of the dog. Stapleton then let go of the leash. “When they rushed me and put me up against the fence, that’s when he bit one of the officers,” Stapleton said. He said the police officer did not fire at the dog at first and appeared to wait until Stapleton reached for the dog’s leash. “The police did not give me no warning or nothing,” he said. “They shot two times past my head and hit the dog.”
Stapleton also denied the officers’ account that they tried to give the dog to a woman bystander. He said the woman they’re referring to was his elderly neighbor who had accompanied him to the store.
Stapleton said officers allegedly were ordering her away from the scene. After the dog was located, His friend and others put it in his vehicle and took it to a veterinarian with its owner, who had arrived on the scene.
The Rottweiler owner stated the bullets struck Beauvoir near the neck and shoulder. The dog survived.
“I am not trying to cause trouble for police, but I just think that this was such a simple thing” that was handled poorly, The owner stated.
Statpleton stated after the shooting officers first told him he was under arrest, but later said they would release him after he wrote a statement. He said he laid out his version of the events and handed the statement to the officer.
Shortly afterward, the officers returned and told him he was under arrest for disobeying their commands, or resisting arrest. The department ordered an internal affairs investigation — customary after a weapon is fired.
The investigation found the officers acted appropriately and were justified in firing at the dog to control its aggression.
Full Article - June 4, 2009
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