When Deputy Sheriffs attack....

[Star*]

Part 1.....

You're having a conversation with your Mom....your screen door opens...your front door handle jiggles. You think....WHO in their right mind would try to open MY door? (dummy) I have a 140 lb American Bulldog with teeth, I have 2 Pit bulls, I have a pistol, and I'm a little jumpy...in the next room is a loaded biker. So I get up - dogs a barkin' and see it's ......THE PO Officer....OH okay give me a minute to put my dog in the other room please. I'll let you in.

I go to put the dogs in the other room....and OMG.....Dog takes off out the back door to an already awaiting NINJA deputy (Barney FIFE) who hammers out a can of pepper spray and hits my precious dog in the face rendering him blind but ....it doesn't stop him - the biker does. NICE ----I'm yelling OH THAT IS UNNECESSARY....and grab my dog and I get sprayed. NICER. So now the deputies are yelling at FIFE....ENOUGH...and I say - HOW DO YOU GET THIS OFF PLEASE? (being polite?) and Biker is trying to get the other dogs in the house - where six other deputies are asking

WHERE IS DUDE? CAN WE GET IN THE HOUSE?

I'm thinking? WT? Can I get this crud out of my dogs eyes? And now I'm throwing up...and gagging, and trying to get the dog circus under control...because everyone is on high alert.....and the deputies are going through our house like it's an Easter Egg hunt....and we're telling them..DUDE IS NOT HERE....We have NOT seen him.....But GO ahead and look to your hearts content.....and finally get the dogs calmed down.....while puking and gagging and my dog is squinting and still angry....and the biker is BEYOND p.o'd.

So THEN they all come out - all 8 of them in riot gear - no joke and they now want to search the back yard....OMG are you kidding? So we corral the dogs back INTO the house...while gagging and puking.....and tell them -have a look all you want do you want to go into the locked shed////should we roll up thepop up camper? Would you like to look in the little well house? How about the dog house? There's a wood shed? There's a rock in the front (gag) yard.....And with that they left. Apologizing profusely but telling us Dude is going to prison if he doesn't get in touch with her PRONTO.....

So......who was right? Daddy disney that said - THEY WON"T COME FOR YOU...they don't care about 3 months left on probation...???

Or Mom and Stepdad who said - DUMABSS you have 3 months left on 4 years and have done 3 3/4 years.....do the last 4 months.

DUH....I'm still wheezing, my dog is still hurting.....and Janet is one of the best friends I've ever had....the end.
Pepper spray even in small doses burns like ----nothing compares.

 

[susiestar]

OMG!!!!! I cannot believe the stupidity of pepper spraying a DOG! Esp one who is clearly protecting his home? What IDIOT thinks it will stop a dog bent on protection?? Make the dog madder? YES. But not subdue it!!!

Get a lawyer and sue the city. THis was just WAY TOO MUCH!!!! I just can NOT believe this.

I hope you can get hold of Dude and thank him for this too! He bears some responsibility - HE is the one who just skipped out.

I am so sorry. I HATE this for you. Did they have a warrant to search your home? Why just try to come in like that? Surely they know you have tried to get Dude to do the right thing all the way along.

I am so sorry that you are hurting and your dog is hurting. Sending many many hugs.

 

[donna723]

Oh good Lord, Star! You do have your adventures, don't you! It sounds like they broke every rule in the book on this one! I'd be calling a lawyer about now. I'm so sorry you had to go through this ... sounds like something that would happen here!

 

[witzend]

Sorry, Starbie. Daddy Dearest is a real charmer, isn't he?

 

[mstang67chic]

Unable to think of anything coherant to say here that will make the least bit of sense AND make it past the censors.

Call a lawyer, call the paper, call the news station and call the PO's boss as well as Barney's boss. Call the humane society and have them explain to Barney Fife what dogs do when you come in UNFREAKINGANNOUNCED into THEIR house. Call your doctor and tell them what can happen when you barge in with pepper spray flying in a house with HEART PATIENTS.

_)(*(&%&$$%$%#$$%*&%(*&(*_)

HUGSHUGSHUGSHUGHSUGSHUGSHUGSHUGS

 

[DammitJanet]

Before we start attacking...I called and checked. They did do the legally correct thing. Probation officers can go in on a no-knock order. They dont have to but they can. The police pepper spraying the dogs were for their protection. Even though WE know Star was true in her statement that all she was going to do was put the dogs away and come let the cops in, they had no surefire way of knowing she wasnt going to come back with guns blazing. It happens. Lots.

This is bad but their are a few folks who could have stopped it. Dude and the Daddy Disney crew.

 

[slsh]

Star, your dear boy sure does take you to new and unexpected experiences. Ugh...

Unfortunately, I think the officers were smart - they didn't know what they were walking into. For all they knew, *Dude* could have had a pistol, big protective dogs, and a loaded biker in the next room.

My inclination would be to tell him to get his body back where it's supposed to be and check in with- who he is supposed to be checking in before *you* have the opportunity to escort him yourself. I know you don't want him in jail, Star, but it's long past time for his lousy choices to quit coming back and biting your and DF's posteriors, to say nothing of the poor puppies. I'd let PO know that your address is not where he is at, just to avoid repeat performances.

I want to say what the heck was he thinking, but... that's such a rhetorical question when it comes to our boys. I sometimes wonder if there's a single synapse that connects, in my kid anyway.

I hope you guys have recovered.

 

[DDD]

I can't help but wonder a few things. Don't you live in poedunk? Don't the local yokels know you after all these years? Certainly the PO had been to the house before and knew about the pets and that you weren't going to pull a weapon!Yes, they have the legal right to do what they did. The moral right to use such heavy handed methods?? That's another story. I think they have watched too many episodes of Cops or theywere doing a training mission.Most importantly.......I am so sorry. I am sorry for you all and I am still very sorry for Dude who really doesn't or can't "get it", in part due to his Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD) like way of thinking. So sad. DDD

 

[donna723]

DDD is right. There's a BIG difference between "can' and "should" and what is and isn't appropriate. And in this case, they went waaaaay overboard. It IS different in a small town, or it should be anyway! If this had been a big city, if they didn't know you and had no idea what they might be coming in to, yeah - maybe then. But as many contacts as you've had with the authorities over Dude's antics and escapades, they should know you by now, they had no reason to believe that you or DF would have reacted with violence. A simple knock on the door by the PO would have sufficed.

And yes, I agree ... they have been watching way too much TV! I hope you and the pup are both better today.

 

[AnnieO]

GRRRRR. Yeah, I'd be past upset. I'm sending you LOTS of hugs. Also, if there is any residual in your eyes or the dog's, plain-jane-generic-store-brand saline will help immensely.

...That's what I use, and one of Onyxx's friends did that to her a few years back... UGH!

 

[Hound dog]

I was wondering the same as DDD. It's not like the authorities around there don't KNOW you by now, and that you'd have handed Dude over if he were there.........and about the pets and such.

Legal or not, that could've/should've been handled soooo much better than it was. PO/deputies took unnecessary risks. I'd be finding out who PO's boss is and have a nice long chat.

I know these things can and often get ugly. But still, unnecessary risk is why innocent people often get hurt. (both cops and citizens)

Starbie if you wrote a book, you'd be a millionaire. The Wondrous Adventures of Starbie

I hope you and SO and the dogs have recovered. I would've had a nearly impossible time staying civil and polite once I got sprayed with pepper spray. D*mn!

((((hugs))))

 

[Star*]

So no one thinks our home is anti-law-dog?

I did not have a problem with the police coming to our home. I understand that they came to do a job that is very dangerous, and that WE knew we're the exception, but honestly they had no way of knowing that. I do take exception with the officer that did NOT listen to DF when he was told DO NOT MOVE and decided not to listen. The other 2 officers that listened? The dogs went right past them until DF was in the yard. The one that moved? This is how the dogs are trained, and until DF could get in the yard and give the command the dog was doing what he was trained to do. As long as you don't move? You live. When this idget decided he didn't HAVE to listen? Thats when the dog went for him, but by that time DF was in the yard and told the dog to break, but the man had already maced him and THAT aggravated the situation more and the dog was not stopping. When DF yelled? The dog stopped, and I got between the 2nd shot of spray and the dog. (a difficult child deputy)

When DF asked if the other officers wanted to leave the yard? They didn't hesitate.

I'm not sure if the PO is telling the truth or not. SHe said if Dude turns himself in now? She can help him and turn this warrant into a citation, and he won't go to prison. If he doesn't get in touch with her she'll have no control over it and he'll just get remanded over to court and go to prison.

I'd like to believe her, but we've been lied to so many times by cops - but still - he's only 3 weeks late on reporting - Dummy I wish he'd call. I wish he would just go do what he needs to do instead of taking a chance of going to prison for a very long time. I think if I had a chance vs. NO chance I'd go for the chance.

I wish I didn't know anything about probation, court, judges, jail.....I want to know about glee club, and football, and booster club, and PTA....and library book sales.

 

[mstang67chic]

Ok, now that I've calmed down some.

Dear PO

cc: PO's boss
RE: When Fife's attack

Dear *cough* Sirs:

While I understand you were simply doing your job and looking out for your safety and the safety of the entire sherriff's department that you brought with you (guns drawn), I would like to comment on a couple of things.

First of all, after our YEARS of contact with you and your office, you KNOW me and know that I would NOT purposely harbor or encourage Dude to hide or run from you. If he screws up, that's on him and HE is the one responsible. I know this and refuse to allow it to affect MY life.

Second, for the same reasons, you are also well aware of the health issues that Df and I have.

You are also well aware that we have large, protective dogs. While I understand animals such as ours are a hazard in your line of work, you KNOW that we are responsible pet owners and given warning, would have happily and calmly restrained them or provided a safe environment for all of us to have a calm and reasonable conversation and search.

But instead of being the reasonable person I know you to be, you chose to use more physical and unnecessary tactics to look for a 19 year old whose charges and record are not what you would expect to see SWAT manuvers for.(Am I correct on that part Star?) To have 8 deputies in RIOT GEAR plus the PO storm my home in search of a NONVIOLENT offender was, I would think in anyone's opinion, extreme over kill. Yes, sometimes you do have to do things in that manner. But in this case? You KNOW us, you KNOW you didn't need all of that but for some reason you chose to do things that way. You CHOSE to turn what could have been a normal, civil and SAFE situation into one that could have ended horribly wrong for any or all of us.

You apologized at the time which was appreciated. However, I WOULD like an explanation as to why you deemed it necessary to practice your heavy duty SWAT manuvers in search of a 19 year old non violent offender.

 

[CrazyinVA]

Sigh. I've got nothin, just.. HUGS.

 

[klmno]

I wish they would go after dead beat dads that way. As far as Dude, I'm thinking if he pops back up now, it's a a probation offense/violation. If he doesn't pop back up on his own soon, then it's a different story. So the PO is probably telling the truth. Like in the military- there is a difference between an unauthorized absence and going AWOL.

Yeah, Star, I wish I didn't know anything about courts and PO's and all that, too. I wish several people from the detention center and monitoring program and attnys and deputies hadn't known me well enough to wave and smile and ask how I'm doing this morning while I'm waiting for court for the umpteenth time. I take that back- we are well in the 30's now for number of court appearances pertaining to difficult child.

 

[Star*]

I was thinking if she would put it in writing ----then I would have something solid....ya know? But that's not going to happen is it?

 

[klmno]

They wouldn't put something in writing like that here.

 

[TheyAreLegallyAdultsNow]

I can't even imagine what that must have been like! I'm so sorry!

 

[DammitJanet]

I hope you dont think I am saying that this was good or fun. It wasnt.

After I called Jamie hoping to find out these idiots had done something hideous that could be used against them, the only thing he said was that he thought the warrant should not have been a no knock warrant in his opinion but that is just his opinion and its not up to him, ya know? Plus, in his jurisdiction they would have had to have had an Animal Control Officer with them because they knew there were dogs there. Considering that they knew there was more than one, they would have had at least two officers. Most likely up there, the PO would have knocked, said they had a warrant to search the premises and that animal control was coming in to secure the dogs. Star would have been able to secure them herself and Animal Control would have watched.

Jamie has had to do that many times. Its why he wears a vest and carries a gun. People do shoot.

 

[Suz]

Holy smokes.

Suz