Police
Kill Dog While Arresting Its Owner; Video Goes Viral
A video that depicts police in
Hawthorne, Calif., shooting and killing a dog as they arrested a man Sunday for
allegedly causing a disturbance at the scene of an armed robbery has gone viral
on YouTube.
The video has received more
than 746,000 views as of Tuesday afternoon and shows four police cars parked at
the scene of an armed robbery. A man accompanied by a leashed dog that looks
like a Rottweiler is shown holding up his cell phone to record police as they
stand on a sidewalk in the residential neighborhood.
Police approach the man, who
leads his dog back into his car. The man stands a few feet away from his car on
the sidewalk, where officers place him in handcuffs.
As they start to lead him away,
the dog jumps out the car window and rushes toward police.
Police attempt to shoo the dog
away, but when the animal doesn't leave, an officer shoots it multiple times,
killing it.
According to local news website
Daily Breeze, Leon Rosby is the man who was placed in handcuffs.
Rosby was driving through the
area, then parked and got out of his car to record police at the scene of the
armed robbery, the site reported.
Hawthorne police Ltd. Scott
Swain said that he asked Rosby to turn down the music in his parked car because
it was interfering with the police work.
"It's distracting the
officers," Swain told Daily Breeze. "It's interfering with what they
are able to hear. It's not just a party call. It's an armed robbery call. The
officers need to hear what's going on with the people being called out of the
residence.”
Rosby admitted to ignoring the
police order to turn down the music but still felt the officers had no right to
shoot his dog. He told the Daily Breeze he believed his arrest was related to
both of his previous convictions for resisting arrest, battery, and driving
under the influence. He also previously filed a lawsuit against the department
related to a domestic violence dispute.