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Dog shooting said to be self-defense
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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." |