Posted on 02/01/2010 7:17:02 PM PST by The Magical Mischief Tour
SOUTH BEND — The South Bend Police Department is investigating whether officers behaved appropriately during a chase of a car theft suspect Sunday, a department official said.
Some police at the scene allege Cpl. Scott Ross mishandled his canine and scuffled with Cpl. Joshua Morgan after Morgan tried to shoot the dog, South Bend police spokesman Capt. Phil Trent confirmed.
"We're investigating what led to a shot (allegedly) being fired by an officer, what was the aftermath, and were all policies and procedures followed correctly," Trent said.
According to a police report, Morgan began chasing a teenager driving a stolen Oldsmobile about 3:45 p.m. Sunday.
Morgan chased the vehicle for about 3 miles before the driver crashed the car and began running away at the corner of Camden Street and Western Avenue, the report said. Morgan followed on foot.
Some officers' alleged version of events
The department is investigating what happened next.
Trent confirmed some officers at the scene have alleged the following occurred:
As Morgan was chasing the suspect, another officer, Cpl. Scott Ross, released his canine partner to help the chase.
For reasons that are not clear, the canine went after Morgan instead and attempted to bite him.
Morgan then fired at the canine, apparently in self-defense, but missed. He continued the pursuit as more officers arrived to help.
Officers caught the suspect in the back yard of a house in the 400 block of Liberty Street.
Meanwhile, Ross and Morgan began "swinging at each other" in the backyard after Ross became angry that Morgan shot at his dog.
As the dispute between Ross and Morgan continued, the canine began biting officers who were trying to arrest the suspect.
The canine bit Cpl. Dominic Hall on the left leg and then attacked Ptl. Jamil Elwaer on his upper left thigh, pinning him on the ground.
Other officers eventually pulled the dog off of Elwaer and separated Morgan and Ross.
The aftermath
Elwaer was taken by ambulance to Memorial Hospital, where he was treated and released, Trent said.
The department is still gathering information about the incident, Trent said.
It is standard procedure for the department to review incidents where an officer fires a gun, he said.
He said no officers have been placed on administrative leave, and that Elwaer's injury "could have been a lot worse."
He said officers have shot at police dogs in the past to protect themselves.
Ross has been a canine officer for several years, and has worked for the department since 1999, Trent said.
And the people of South Bend pay these people to protect them? LOLOLOL!
how can we get one of the dogs to go after Obama?
Video you really want to see on the youtube
Thanks for this crazy story! Left out of “The Aftermath” is what happened to the K-9. Inquiring minds want to know. :-)
I would bet that the K-9 will be sent for retraining. If it doesn’t work they’ll retire the dog.
It’s a good thing he wasn’t a pitbull, they would have
killed him and his entire family.
Pinging for comments...
What insanity...
Indiana?
I'm thinking maybe the K9 officer needs to be put on leave -- the 4-legged one, that is. Not that it's all clear that he's at fault, but he must be one very confused dog right now, when it comes to issues of telling the bad guys from the good guys, whom to bite, etc. He deserves a little vacation time with some competent humans, followed by a bit of refresher training. What on earth were the arresting officers thinking of, attempting to arrest the slugging-it-out pair of officers which included the dog's handler, before someone managed to get the dog restrained? I mean, WTH did they expect the dog to do?
Not to mention some of the officers in this caper...This is way beyond embarrassing.
Yeah. Somebody should have warned Our Gang that Petey was a time bomb. ;-)
I just don’t like cops shooting at dogs in most cases. This happens far too often. The milkman, meter reader, etc don’t get to shoot mean dogs but they’re not injured or killed by dogs anymore than extremely low, almost non-existant numbers. Why are some cops such sissies when it comes to dogs?
I once watched someone’s house burn as the firemen had a fist fight because a fire truck bumped the fire chiefs car. They finally did remove the “bar” from the firehouse.
I agree with your statement...
However, I did witness one cop pull his weapon on a dog, but didn't shoot it as the owner pleaded and stood between them....True story.
‘And the people of South Bend pay these people to protect them?”
They sure do catch pro lifers in a hurry.
Keystone cops live!!!! At least the dog is alive.
Probably. That would be a lazy man's job.
It won’t be a dog, it will be a bus and his own party will throw him under it. Wait for it..
Bad dog! Bad cop! Bad other cop!
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