Detroit agrees to pay $100K to man whose dog was killed in police shooting caught on dashcam
The city of Detroit has agreed to pay a $100,000 settlement to a man whose dog was fatally shot by police outside his home last year, the plaintiff’s lawyer says.
The pet, a Dogue de Bordeaux named Babycakes, was on a 10-foot steel cable attached to a fence outside the home of Darryl Lindsay in January 2015 when police arrived to question him about a report of shots fired. Although other officers got to the home by going over a fence and avoided dealing with the dog (Lindsay asked if he could take the dog inside) one officer can be seen on dashcam footage shooting the animal twice as she remained secured by the cable, a federal civil rights suit alleged.
Lindsay was never charged in the incident, the Detroit Free Press reports.
However, a police report said the department found the shooting of the large brown dog justified, because an officer may use lethal force on an animal if he feels threatened, according to an earlier WJBK story.
Attorney Chris Olson, who represents Lindsay, disagreed. “You have to take reasonable steps,” he told the station. “Which include doing things other than just blasting the dog off the map.”
Olson told the Free Press the department agreed last year to pay Lindsay the $100,000 settlement and is expected to write him a check within a few weeks.
Police did not respond to requests for comment from the newspaper.
Related coverage:
Detroit Metro Times: “Lawsuit: Detroit cop killed resident’s French mastiff ‘for no reason’”
