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MASON -- A police officer says he acted in
self-defense when he shot and killed a Mason resident's guard dog.
According to official police reports, at 5:49
p.m. on March 10, Mason Police Officer John B. Wagner responded to a
residence on Hurricane Hill Road after the homeowner, Jeff Babel, called
to complain that he was attached on his property by his neighbor's dog.
According to police reports, Babel told police
that Otto, a German shepherd that belonged to his next-door neighbor,
Gerald Boisvert, was a vicious dog. Babel said when he went out to
get the mail, Otto charged him on his property. The police report
states that Babel said the dog was growling loudly and baring his teeth.
Wagner reported that he went to the Boisvert
residence at 289 Hurricane Hill Road to investigate the complaint,
Wagner stated in the police report that Jamie des Coteaux, who lives
with Boisvert, opened the door to speak with him and Otto charged out of
the house. Wagner said the dog immediately bit him on the right
forearm and then the right elbow. The dog then jumped up and bit
Wagner on the right side of his abdomen and knocked him backwards into
the driveway, where Wagner struck his head on the front bumper of a
parked vehicle, the report continues. Wagner stated that he feared
for his life when he was down on his back and the attacking dog jumped
on top of him.
Mason Police Chief Barry Hutchins said Wagner was acting in
self-defense when he drew his sidearm, a Sigsauer P245 semi-automatic
pistol, and fired twice, killing Otto on the spot.
Hutchins said the two slugs that felled the dog
were hollow point .45 caliber bullets.
The police chief said Mason officers are issued large
caliber hollow point ammunition to ensure public safety, because the
bullets are designed to mushroom or flatten on impact. A flattened
slug is more likely to remain inside the object that is struck, and less
likely to endanger innocent bystanders, who would be suggest to greater
risk from ammunition with superior piercing power.
Wagner reported that after he brought Otto
down, he immediately checked the safety of des Coteaux and her two
children, who were the only other occupants in the home at the time of
the shooting.
Wagner said that afterwards, des Coteaux called
for paramedics to treat the officer's injuries.
Boisvert was returning home from work when he
arrived on the scene shortly after ambulances and mutual aid responded.
He tells a different version of the story.
Boisvert, who is the president and CEO of
Xintra Technologies, said that he was first frozen by the sight of the
bloody aftermath of the shooting. Bus he said that after he
recovered from his initial shock, he ran inside his home to get his
video camera to record his own evidence. Boisvert insists that the
videotape that is now in the possession of his attorney contains
evidence that will contradict the official police reports.
Boisvert said that his 4-year-old German
shepherd, Otto, was gentle dog and beloved family pet.
"Otto was my best friend." said
Boisvert as he choked back tears. "The Mason police murdered
my best friend."
Although Boisvert acknowledged that neighbors
had previously complained to police about noise from Otto's barking, he
insists there are no reports that his dog ever bit anyone before.
Boisvert confirmed, "Otto was a trained
guard dog."
Boisvert said he posted six "beware of
dog" signs on all points of his property as warning to people
coming onto his land. He said that Mason police were fully aware
of the warning signs and Otto's aggressive vigilance from previous
visits to the home.
Both Mason police and Boisvert
confirms that when police came to 289 Hurricane Hill Road last year to
arrest Boisvert on charges of unsworn falsification, Otto reacted wildly
and viscously. The charges stem from Boisvert allegedly making
false statements on a form to obtain a pistol permit. Boisvert
allegedly failed to state on the form that he had previously been arrested
on a domestic violence charge. |
Boisvert claims that when he was arrested, Mason police used unnecessary
physical force. Boisvert speculated that after Otto looked through
the window and witnessed his master being roughed up and forced into the
back of a patrol car, the dog might have grown to interpret the sight of
a uniformed police officer as a threat to the family.
Hutchins insists that at the time of the earlier
arrest, officers followed routine procedure and treated Boisvert with
the utmost consideration.
Boisvert insists that on the day that Otto was shot
to death, the Mason police officer jumped the gun.
Boisvert said he hopes to prove in court that
the police officer reacted recklessly when he drew his pistol.
Boisvert said that when Wagner emptied his bullets into Otto, he
endangered the life of des Coteaux and their two young children, all of
whom witnessed the killing of the family pet.
Boisvert and police both said that on the advice
of their respective legal counsel, they must be careful of what they say
to the press. When contacted last week, Wagner refused to comment
on the incident and referred all questions to his superior officer.
Chief Hutchins steadfastly refutes some of Boisvert's
public allegations.
Boisvert insisted that Wagner shot the dog on
the porch, while des Coteaux and their 2-year-old child stood less than
four feet away and the couple's 1-year-old child sat in a high chair in
the window close by.
Hutchins insists that Wagner backed off in a
retreat before the unrestrained dog finally brought him to the ground
and Wagner was at least 21 feet and 8 inches from the porch when he was
on his back and between two parked vehicles when he discharged his
weapon.
Boisvert said he has photographic evidence of
three .45 caliber shell casings from bullets fired in the
shooting. But Hutchins insists that official inspectors determined
without a doubt, that Wagner only fired his sidearm twice when he killed
Otto.
Boisvert said that police, responding to a
mutual aid call, arrived in 10 or 11 cruisers from neighboring
communities. But Hutchins said that besides emergency medical
personnel, who came in ambulances to treat the injured Wagner, mutual
aid arrived in only one other Mason cruiser and one patrol car from the
Greenville Police Department.
Boisvert said that after the shooting, officers
argues with him and tried to take his dead pet away. But Hutchins
said police did not need to try to take the dead dog, because they
already knew that Otto's rabies shots were up to date.
Hutchins insists that Boisvert refused offers
from police to help bury the dog.
Boisvert said that Wagner is negligently
responsible for everything because before des Coteaux opened the front
door, she was unaware that the police officer had already opened the glass
storm door, which would have provided a barrier between the officer and
the guard dog that was already loudly barking inside the house. In
Wagner's report, he states that des Coteaux opened the glass storm door
and freed the otherwise unrestrained Otto.
Boisvert said that the incident traumatized his
family. He said that des Coteaux has taken their children and left
the Mason home to stay with relatives out of state. Boisvert said
that after he finishes taking legal action, he plans to sell his home
and leave Mason forever. In addition to monetary restitution for
damages, Boisvert wants to see Wagner fired from the police force.
Boisvert, who grew up in Lowell, Mass., said he
came to Mason to start a family and build a dream home, which was turned
into a nightmare on the evening of March 10.
Hutchins called the shooting a sad and
unfortunate incident. But he said that Officer Wagner reacted
appropriately under the circumstances.
"I have a dog." said Hutchins,
"We don't take any pleasure in putting any animal down." |
