Man sues city after police shoot, kill dog

[funnybone]

OrlandoSentinel.com
Man sues city after police shoot, kill dog
Rene Stutzman

Sentinel Staff Writer

5:38 PM EST, February 15, 2008

SANFORD

A man has filed suit against the city of Winter Springs, accusing two of its police officers of mistaking his home for someone else's, hauling him outdoors without clothes and shooting dead his Rottweiler.

The suit, filed Thursday, seeks unspecified damages.

William A. Riggin alleges he was in the shower when officers "stormed" into his home May 14, 2006. They thought they were three houses down, responding a home where an alarm had sounded.

Police said the officers walked in through an unlocked sliding glass door, and when the 130-pound dog, a 3-year-old named Dirk, lunged at one of the officers, he shot it.

The dog died about a half hour later. Police did not allow Riggin to tend to him until it was too late, according to the suit.

It alleges the police department was negligent and that Riggin has suffered humiliation, emotional pain and the loss of his pet.

At the time, police said part of the problem was that Riggin lived in a neighborhood where some addresses were unmarked or poorly marked.

Police spokesman Capt. Kevin Brunelle today said, "It was an incident we wish didn't happen."


http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/seminole/orl-bk-dogshooting021608,0,593507.story

 

[Treo]

Ka-CHING!!!!!!!!!

( Those posters from southern Colorado will get this)

Here you better use my phone you need to call Frank Azar

in all seriousness I'd would be devestated and I truly would make them pay (legally)

 

[Soybomb]

It seems like they owe him a new dog. Past that I'm not so sure. Its not good but things like that are bound to happen from time to time. I'd think the officers might start to wonder if they were in the right place when they found "the burglar" taking a shower though.

 

[Pilgrim]

Police spokesman Capt. Kevin Brunelle today said, "It was an incident we wish didn't happen."

If wishes and 'buts' were candy and nuts, Capt. Brunelle would have Christmas every day.

Pilgrim

 

[catfish101]

What is even worse, if the guy shot one of the officers he would be charged for murder even though the incident was their fault.

 

[ServiceSoon]

Mandantory botched paramilitary raids map www.cato.org/raidmap

 

[JWarren]

Soybomb wrote:

It seems like they owe him a new dog. Past that I'm not so sure. Its not good but things like that are bound to happen from time to time.

Excuse me?

They owe him a hell of a lot more. Dragged out of the shower into the front lawn naked, shot his dog, and then did not ALLOW the man to go to his dog while it died????

Give me a break.


I'll say this again and again... when the HELL are LEO's going to get Garamon? The little doo-hickey my father-in-law has in his truck chastises him if he is 3 feet off target.


What would they have owed him if he made a sudden move while in the shower-- like I would have without a doubt have done-- and they shot and killed him.


This is incompetence, and I am sick of seeing it defended.


What is it that the courts have ruled? Ignorance of the law is no excuse?

How about ignorance of where the hell you are is no excuse either?


I've seen numerous accounts of dogs getting shot by LEO's going onto the wrong property. Let's not even forget the harm that has occured to innocent peoples' lives and property. I am a FIRM believer that whoever is in charge of such a thing should lose their job. Period.


I find it fascinating that as a stock trader, I WOULD lose my job for making a trade error such as trading on the wrong side of the market (selling instead of buying.) I have known personally more traders than I can count on my hands that HAVE lost their jobs because of TERRS (Trade Errors). And there is rarely a second chance given.

And this is only over money.

Yet a man who literally makes errors that can cost LIVES may get a "reprimand" or at worst a paid temporary suspension.


-- John

 

[Deanimator]

It seems like they owe him a new dog. Past that I'm not so sure.

If they were at the wrong address and he was committing no crimes, I have NO doubt whatever. There's no exception in the tort law for assaulting the WRONG person, and that's exactly what they did. They were blatantly negligent, acting on behalf of the municipality, and the city is responsible, PERIOD.

Unlike in the Atlanta shooting of the elderly woman, there was no obvious willful misconduct on the part of police, but there was prima facie negligence. I'd take a bite out of the city's finances. And UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES should he agree to a gag order of ANY kind if they try to settle. It's bad enough that they committed a home invasion, killed his dog and assaulted him. They shouldn't be allowed to abridge his 1st Amendment rights too.

 

[mountaindrew]

I am not a cop basher at all, but come on! I the mail man can find the address, why cant a cop? Entering a home without even confirming the address first? can anyone be that stupid? There can be no legal defense for this. Not to mention, that the house down the street that DID have the alarm going off got no response at all from the police. Tell the person who got robbed/killed/raped, oops sorry, we were busy killing your neighbors dog. Too bad. Shoulda had a bigger address marquee!

 

[JWarren]

Did anyone catch this little tidbit?

The dog died about a half hour later. Police did not allow Riggin to tend to him until it was too late, according to the suit.

This means that the cops where STILL there trying to figure this out THIRTY MINUTES afterwards. I wonder if they bothered to answer the REAL alarm during that time.


-- John

 

[rhubarb]

police said part of the problem was that Riggin lived in a neighborhood where some addresses were unmarked or poorly marked.

It's Riggin's own fault for not ensuring that his neighbors' addresses were clearly marked. What a chump for living three houses down from a burglary victim.

 

[JWarren]

I'm still baffled over the fact that an alarm was going off within SIGHT and EARSHOT of this man's house-- and none of the officers said... "hmm... I've got an idea. Let's go check out THAT house for our alarm report."

If I were more of a suspicious sort, I may be looking into whether any of the LEO's or the city has a grudge against this man and saw an opportunity to harrass him.

I mean seriously... if my alarm went off, you'd know EXACTLY where it came from.


-- John

 

[jerkface11]

I guess when they can't find the right house they just pick one at random?

 

[rust collector]

Is it possible that this guy didn't have clearly visible numbers on his house?

Is it possible that the burglar alarm monitoring company did not supply useful information such as precise GPS coordinates?

If my alarm was triggered, I'd want a quick response and I've often read comments about the delay until the police arrive.

Of course, this will shortly devolve into yet another dog shooting thread and be locked, so I don't know what's to be gained from this analysis.

 

[ilbob]

You want change in the system where there is often no accountability for these kind of things, you have to get it at the ballot box. Being as that is political, it would seem OT.

My guess is it took them all of 30 seconds to figure out they had screwed up. It would not have taken any of us any longer than that. The rest of the time was spent trying to find some kind of justification for their mistake. Pretty typical human behavior.

I'd think the officers might start to wonder if they were in the right place when they found "the burglar" taking a shower though.

Cops are trained from day one to never, ever admit they screwed up. It takes at least a LT to admit that. It may be it took that long to get a LT there to admit the mistake.

 

[shadowalker]

I'm a pretty big supporter of the police force but in this case they messed up and hopefully will pay for it. Avoiding accountability only results in duplicate incidents.

What is even worse, if the guy shot one of the officers he would be charged for murder even though the incident was their fault.

Not sure how it is in Missouri but in my state that only applies if a reasonable person should have known they were police officers acting in an official capacity.

 

[41magsnub]

What was that Tom Selleck movie where the cops raided the wrong house and shot him for holding a hair dryer just out of the shower so they planted a gun and some dope.

 

[Deanimator]

What was that Tom Selleck movie where the cops raided the wrong house and shot him for holding a hair dryer just out of the shower so they planted a gun and some dope.

That wasn't a movie, it was the Atlanta PD, and they had a perjured warrant and killed an elderly woman.

 

[TallPine]

Is it possible that this guy didn't have clearly visible numbers on his house?

Yes, but is that a crime that requires a SWAT team invasion and dog killing?

My house has no numbers except for the number on the mailbox down on the county road. Funny, UPS and Fed-Ex don't seem to have any trouble finding us.

Our local deputies can't find addresses in my neighborhood because they never come out here unless there is an emergency or papers to serve. They only patrol the county seat and the two paved hiways in both directions, even though they could come up our road from one hiway (west)and cut accross on another road to the hiway south.

 

[ilbob]

That wasn't a movie, it was the Atlanta PD, and they had a perjured warrant and killed an elderly woman.

I think I read somewhere that rather than murder 1 and the needle they so richly deserve, there is some kind of deal being made where the most any of them will serve is a couple of years.

 

[Deanimator]

I think I read somewhere that rather than murder 1 and the needle they so richly deserve, there is some kind of deal being made where the most any of them will serve is a couple of years.

If I were the family, I'd dig into the prosecutor like a tick. Any deal like that would have a serious political price. As for the perpetrators, I'd hound them to their graves, no matter the cost. Moving to the Bekaa Valley wouldn't save them from the torment I'd bring down on them. EVERYWHERE they went, and anyplace they'd try to get jobs, I'd make sure that EVERYBODY knew who they were.

 

[ilbob]

Our local deputies can't find addresses in my neighborhood because they never come out here unless there is an emergency or papers to serve.

If you don't like that situation, call and complain about it.

I don't know how it is in your area, but here the sheriff's office has a patrol plan. Obviously it is disrupted by events, but they do make an effort to move the cars around some.

 

[ilbob]

I just have to ask this, if I am a cop, and I go to a residence, and see a rottweiller inside, am I going to assume that the rottweiller must belong to the burglar, or maybe I need to rethink things a little.

Can't recall ever hearing of a burglar bringing his rottweiller with him.

 

[NASCAR_MAN]

At the time, police said part of the problem was that Riggin lived in a neighborhood where some addresses were unmarked or poorly marked.

Notice what was not said: "Riggin's house was poorly marked" - which was all they would have had to say.

So...I'll assume that Riggins house was well marked - or else the police who "allegedly" (word used in another article about this incident) shot the dog would have said so.

 

[GBExpat]

I do not like how litigious our country has become. I think that it is a major part of what is destroying our society (along with "deserve" and the fact that, increasingly, people are no longer responsible for their actions).

That said, I hope that Mr. Riggin either wins his case or agrees to a settlement that he finds satisfactory.