Sterling police officer shoots, kills dog
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| Ben Johnson of Sterling, gestures while talking about his dog Babe. Johnson found his dog Babe shoot early Monday morning by a Sterling police officer. (Philip Marruffo/pmarruffo@svnmail.com) |
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STERLING – Babe, a Labrador-pit bull terrier mix, always accompanied Benjamin Johnson on construction jobs. The black, 3-year-old, 65-pound dog would sit in the truck all day long while Johnson worked on a roof.
“Her whole life she spent in that truck, she wanted to be in that truck,” Johnson said.
The dog was only knee-high. When they would head out to a construction site in the morning, Babe would pick up Johnson’s nail bag and take it out to the truck.
“You live your whole life looking for a friend like that,” said Johnson, 32, who lives at 901 1/2 First Ave.
Thursday morning, Johnson lost his best friend.
A Sterling police officer shot the dog in the Johnson’s backyard while he was in the neighborhood investigating an unrelated burglary.
Lt. Doug Fargher would not disclose the name of the officer, but did say the incident was under investigation. Fargher said the officer felt threatened and “feels bad he had to do something.”
Fargher would not give many specifics about the incident.
“We’re committed to looking at everything and checking against policy, training and procedures, and to see where it falls,” Fargher said.
Johnson and his wife, Kim, 41, said they plan to take action against the officer.
“It was a calculated shot.” Benjamin Johnson said.
As he did every morning, Benjamin let his dog out of the house while he poured himself a cup of coffee. Babe might chase the squirrels in trees and would visit the neighbor’s dog. He then heard Babe barking.
“If you’re in my backyard at 6:30 in the morning and I let the dog out and she barks at you, she’s doing her job,” Johnson said.
He yelled for Babe, and then he heard the gunshot. When Johnson ran out into his backyard, he said, “She was out there gasping for air, her tail was wagging.”
The officer was standing 10 feet from the dog, next to his squad car.
Benjamin Johnson said the wound was on the side of Babe’s head and not a straight-on shot. He said that indicated the dog was turning to come back to the house. The Johnsons say Babe was not an aggressive or vicious dog. The officer could have used mace instead of deadly force, Ben Johnson said.
“He didn’t need to shoot my dog.”
The dog was trained well, Benjamin Johnson said. When he was arrested for a DUI, he said, she stayed in the truck while he was handcuffed.
Sometimes the dog would stare at a piece of meat for an hour and wouldn’t eat it until Benjamin Johnson said to “take it.”
The police were not able to examine the dog, and they understand that the family is upset, Fargher said.
After Babe died, the Johnsons buried her near a lake along U.S. Route 30.
“She loved to go to the river and swim,” Kim Johnson said. “That was her favorite thing to do.”
