rumor has it DAHLIA CANE is flying up from miami. she will be organizing the next shift of round the clock lunatics.
About 30 protesters gathered in front of the Washington County Courthouse Monday afternoon to voice their concerns about the death of a dog during the search of a mobile home on West Montgomery Street in Marietta Thursday.
Washington County Sheriff Larry Mincks said Sgt. Scott Parks with the Major Crimes Task Force will not face disciplinary action for shooting and killing the pit bull, named Cash. Mincks said the pit bull attempted to attack Parks while the deputy was executing a search warrant at Benjamin Bruce's Marietta residence.
"It was in self-defense," Mincks said. "We've already investigated it and determined the officer acted appropriately."
Bruce, 21, was not at his residence at 111 West Montgomery St., Lot 23, when the shooting took place, but Mincks confirmed Bruce is the dog's owner. Bruce was located at the Econo Lodge in Marietta Thursday and arrested without incident on charges of burglary, auto theft and aggravated menacing. The charges stem from a Marietta police investigation. His bond is set at $45,000.
Mincks said Sgt. Parks had a "probable cause" for being there.
Mincks denies any wrongdoing on the part of officials and contradicts much of what protesters claimed Monday afternoon.
Many of those protesting the dog's treatment identified themselves as friends of Bruce.
According to Marietta resident Jason Myers, 25, the manner by which the dog was shot, as well as how it was handled after its death, resulted in the protest. Myers is a friend of Bruce's and organized the demonstration.
"The issue isn't that they shot the dog; it's that they shot it in the side and not the head like they're trained," he said.
Myers also said it was a matter of days before the dog was picked up.
"How is it inhumane for us to bleed to death, but ok for a dog to bleed to death?," he said.
Myers said he has contacted officials at ASPCA (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) and PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) and made them aware of the incident. PETA?!?!? hahahahahaha
Ben Bruce's brother, Sam Bruce, 20, of Marietta, was also at the protest Monday afternoon.
"The dog has never attacked anybody and it has never bitten anybody," he said.
Mincks said he is unsure of where the dog was shot on its body because Sgt. Parks fired while the dog was in mid-air, after it came out of the front door of the mobile home and went after him. He added that the dog was picked up the same day of the incident.
"It was recovered that night and brought in and taken care of by the Humane Society," the sheriff said.
Sam Bruce and Jason Myers both said there was a video camera set up in Ben Bruce's trailer, but it and the tape inside it were destroyed by a law enforcement official on the scene. They both said it isn't unusual for Ben Bruce to set up a surveillance camera while he's away from home.
"My question is, if the cops have nothing to hide, then why would they destroy the tape?," Myers said.
Mincks said he did not have any information about the presence of a video camera on the premises.
"I do not have any information on that whatsoever and if it was there, we would not have destroyed it; we would've taken it into evidence," he said.
He said Ben Bruce was understanding of the situation.
"We have talked to Ben Bruce and he does not want to file a complaint about the death of the dog," Mincks said. "Mr. Bruce indicated the dog was very aggressive and he understood what happened."
Mincks said the dog was not licensed or insured, and there will likely be penalties applied for these violations.
"The owner may be charged by having an unlicensed pit bull," Mincks said. "They're required to have liability insurance and that wasn't the case."
Mincks said the county dog warden is looking into the case. Dog warden Steve Strahler would not discuss any details Monday.
"It's an ongoing investigation," he said. "We're working with the prosecutors on how they want to handle it."
According to the county dog warden's office, the state of Ohio requires that vicious dogs be insured with no less than $100,000 in liability insurance.
As a group of young people gathered for a third day in front of the county courthouse Tuesday, protesting last week's shooting of a pit bull by a Washington County sheriff's deputy, more facts have surfaced about the case.
A firearms report was released by the sheriff's office, and a copy of the affadavit for the search warrant that originally led officers to the 111 West Montgomery St., Lot 23, Marietta, residence of 21-year-old Benjamin Bruce was released.
The firearms discharge report sheds additional light on the investigation of the dog's shooting by sheriff's deputy Sgt. Scott Parks. Sheriff Larry Mincks said Monday that Parks would not face disciplinary action for shooting and killing the pit bull, named Cash.
According to the report, officers with the sheriff's detective bureau and Major Crimes Task Force were attempting to serve a search warrant at the residence. Bruce, arrested later that day at the Marietta Econo Lodge on Pike Street on charges of burglary, auto theft and aggravated menacing by stalking, was not home at the time of the shooting.
"Upon attempting entry to the residence, a pit bull charged from the residence and attempted to attack officers who were still on the porch, trying to enter the residence," the report stated.
The reports says Parks fired three rounds at the dog, one of which struck the animal in the left front leg and one in the left side. A third shot apparently missed.
Mincks said Tuesday afternoon that he has reviewed the report filed Friday. Also, the report has been reviewed by Parks' supervisor (who was also at the scene), a division commander and chief deputy. Mincks said after reviewing the reports it was determined that Parks' action was justified.
"The dog was very aggressive, and Parks probably saved a couple of officers and himself from being bitten," Mincks said.
Protestors have said the dog was not dangerous, an impression Humane Officer Butch Morris, who recovered the dog's body after it was shot, shared.
"The dog warden had brought this dog in before, and we had him in the shelter," Morris said. "He was not aggressive to me; he was just a big baby."
Morris said a Taser could possibly have been used to render the animal helpless, or animal control could have been called for assistance when officers heard the dog growling inside the home.
However, Morris said Tuesday that when he is called to a scene where officers have shot an animal, he assumes there was a good reason for the shooting.
"If an aggressive dog charges out of the door and is not confined, then officers may have the right to shoot," he said.
Mincks said this was not law enforcement officers' first encounter with the animal.
More than a year ago, he said, officers encountered the same pit bull while serving another warrant on Bruce at a residence in Marietta's west side. Mincks said Bruce was home at that time and had to restrain the dog from attacking the officers.
According to the firearm discharge report, Detective Ryan Huffman interviewed Bruce at the county jail the day after the shooting and Bruce admitted the dog was very aggressive toward individuals with weapons.
"I love dogs, and we do not like to shoot an animal," Mincks said
But he said Parks acted out of self-defense, and in the firearm discharge report, Chief Deputy Larry Stephens agreed.
"Per Washington County Sheriff's Office policy, No. 412, use of force, detectives are authorized to use deadly force to 'kill an animal in self-defense, or to prevent substantial harm to another,'" Stephens wrote.
Morris lives about five miles from the site of the shooting and said he responded immediately from home after the sheriff's office notified him of the incident. He said a protester's comment that it was a matter of days before the pit bull was picked up was unfounded.
"We had the dog in about 45 minutes after I received the call," Morris said, adding that after being shot the pit bull ran about 300 yards north of the residence before the dog collapsed in the middle of the city's River Trail hiking and biking pathway that runs near West Montgomery Street.
The dog's body was taken to the Humane Society of the Ohio Valley's shelter on Mount Tom Road, and later released to one of Bruce's family members.
According to a statement of facts from the Marietta Police Department on whose warrant Bruce was arrested at the Econo Lodge last week, on March 2 Bruce had forcibly entered the home of his ex-girlfriend, Taylor Bowling on Alta Street in Marietta.
The police report stated that after entering the residence, Bruce went upstairs where he found Bowling asleep in her bedroom. He allegedly took the woman's cell phone and became upset by text messages he found on the device. The affidavit says he then took Bowling's car and house keys and drove off in her car.
Bruce later returned the car and left the keys inside the house.
The affidavit says Bruce told some friends what he had done, and a witness said Bruce still had Bowling's cell phone in his possession at that time.
Bruce remained in the Washington County Jail Tuesday night on $45,000 bond.
