Posted on 09/23/2010 7:45:07 AM PDT by Inappropriate Laughter
Family members claim they called police for help Wednesday morning, but when officers arrived, they were treated like criminals and an officer shot and killed their family dog. It all unfolded in the 1100 block of Fiji Lane in Landover.
Four-year-old Mercedes, a Rottweiler mix, is the latest dog shot and killed by police in Prince George's County.
Dog owner Sterling Barlow said about Mercedes, "Cold blood... Shot in the head for no reason."
The problem started when owner Sterling Barlow's brother pulled into the family driveway after work early Wednesday morning. The family claims two men immediately approached, armed with a gun and demanding his car. The brother managed to fight them off, ran into the house and came back out firing his gun.
"If somebody did that to your family you will retaliate the best way you know how," said Barlow.
After a shootout with the alleged robbers, the two brothers called police. When police arrived, Barlow says things got out of hand with the officers and his innocent dog paid the tragic price.
Barlow said, "One grabs me in the head lock and starts punching me in the face."
Mother Dwana Barlow said, "The police officer wouldn't even let me go to the bathroom... and held me hostage in my own house."
While being wrestled to the ground by five different cops, Barlow and witnesses in the neighborhood tell us a female Prince George's County officer shot the dog in the head.
Barlow stated, "While this was going on I said 'please, don't point a gun at my dog.' I begged her. She didn't need to be involved in this. She was in the yard."
But Barlow was arrested and charged with multiple crimes, including insulting an officer. Police say the officer acted appropriately when shooting the dog.
Neighbor Barbara Wells said, "The dog did not attack anyone. He never approached anyone. Even as the officers grabbed Sterling the dog didn't do anything."
Police spent hours Wednesday searching for the full police report. Around 10:30 p.m. Wednesday, police called ABC 7 News on the phone and confirmed that an officer did shoot and kill the dog out of self defense. There will be a police investigation but that officer will not be placed on administrative leave.
The alleged robbers have not been found.
They are trained to do that for dominance, the less need it more as you can see.
Barney Fife would have handled this a lot better.
Calling the cops? Confine your Rottweiler.
The story is in the details here.
Barlow said, "One grabs me in the head lock and starts punching me in the face."
I can't help being a little curious about how "things got out of hand". What did Barlow do in the moments before the headlock was applied?
More proof that there is no situation that can’t be made worse with the presence of cops.
So tired of police treating victims like criminals. If I was on the jury I would give the family about 10 million dollars. The only way to stop this sort of abuse is to make it hurt so much that police forces can’t aford to hire officers who do this sort of thing.
So insulting a LEO is a criminal offense now?
Nothing will turn people against the police faster than this rampant dog shooting BS.
Some possibilities:
1. Barlow acted like a complete ass.
2. The cops acted like complete asses.
3. Barlow AND the cops acted like complete asses.
Maybe you need to read the article.
The bottom line, I guess, is if you see an officer approaching, lock up your dogs. It doesn't matter if he is wagging his tail and looking for a pat on the head. He stands a good chance of becoming another puppy silhouette stamped on the side of a squad car.
When the revolution comes, a lot of folks are going to put the police in the “enemy” category. And in a guerrilla war, having to wear a uniform is a big disadvantage.
Last I heard, insulting a cop is freedom of speech and even flipping the bird at a cop has been cited by the courts as free speech.
Are they trying for some sort of Guinness record book or is there a contest between them and some other county or do they just hire dog haters?
Too many skipped details in the story to tell whether this was police misconduct or not.
Doesn’t sound like a normal post-robbery interview to me. What does “it got out of hand” mean? What caused it to “get out of hand”? Why did FIVE cops need to put the guy in a headlock and wrestle him to the ground?
SnakeDoc
The cops don’t know that your “Fluffy” is a sweetheart, the way you do. If you call the cops, put-your-dog-away dumb-ass!
That was when the party in power was the party not in power...times are a changing.
I am beginning to think that some police officers need to post a personal liability bond before they put their first day in uniform. As long as police officers aren't held personally responsible for their actions they have no reason to behave.
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