Officer who shot dog 'protecting self'

He was about to be attacked by the animal, he says.

And the whole episode originated with the Tennessee Highway Patrol, not the Cookeville Police Dept., city officials stress.

It was the THP officers who made the felony stop of a vehicle in which a North Carolina family was traveling, and the Cookeville Police Dept. was merely asked to come out and assist as backup officers.

State troopers involved were David Bush, David Roark, Jeff Phann, and Lt. Jerry Randolph.

Cookeville Police Officers Eric Hall and Mead McWhorter were dispatched to the I-40/S. Jefferson area at 5:14 p.m. that day to assist the THP.

That is, the THP asked the city force for help before initiating the stop, and the officers were sent there not knowing any details of the case.

As it turned out, the James and Pamela Smoak family of Saluda, North Carolina, say they were victims of a police mistake which began somewhere in Davidson County where they had stopped to get gas after visiting Nashville on a vacation.

James Smoak had lost his wallet as he drove off from the gas station in Davidson County, and someone who saw the wallet fly off the top of his car became suspicious and called the authorities.

From that point, someone in some law enforcement agency there apparently came to believe a robbery had occurred and began a search on the highway for the car to which the wallet's information led them.

In Cookeville, the car was stopped by the THP, and the family was ordered out of the vehicle at gunpoint and handcuffed.

And when their pet bulldog, Patton, came out of the car, one officer on the scene shot and killed the dog. The family was very upset and later filed complaints with both police agencies.

But the city officers who were sent to the scene to help another agency that day believe they performed their duties as they should have.

Here is Officer Hall's account of his part in the case:

"I was dispatched to assist THP with a felony stop that they were going to initiate at I-40 and S. Jefferson. While enroute to the call, I asked dispatch to find out what felony had been committed and to get a description of the suspect vehicle.

"Dispatch was not able to give me the information before I arrived on the scene. Once I was on the scene, I noticed that THP was already in the process of getting the suspects out of the vehicle.

"I retrieved my issue shotgun and took a position beside Officer McWhorter who was taking cover on the right side of the lead THP patrol car. Officer McWhorter and I covered the suspects with long guns while the state troopers did the hands-on.

"Suddenly, a dog, I believe to be a pit-bull, jumped from the suspect vehicle, singled me out from the other officers, and charged toward me growling in an aggressive manner.

"I yelled at the dog to 'get back' but it attempted to circle me to attack, so I felt that I had no other option but to protect myself.

"I fired once at the dog, instantly putting him down. VHS tape from in vehicle camera placed into evidence."

Here is Officer McWhorter's account of what happened:

"I responded to I-40 in order to assist THP on a felony stop. On arrival, I approached from the passenger side of Trooper Bush's unit. I took a position of cover at the passenger door of his unit. I provided cover from the location. The suspects were removed from the vehicle.

"As a trooper went forward to cuff the suspects, Officer Hall and I flanked to the right to maintain cover on the suspects and the uncleared vehicle. I passed a trooper my handcuffs. He cuffed the last subject.

"A dog exited the vehicle and focused on Officer Hall. The dog rapidly approached Officer Hall. Officer Hall stepped backwards and yelled get back. The dog continued toward the officer as he stepped back. Officer Hall shot the dog at the point that the dog would not retreat.

"When I saw that the threat had been stopped, I resumed cover on the vehicle. I assisted a trooper in clearing the vehicle. I assisted until I was released by the senior trooper."

The Smoak family, both in interviews with this newspaper and in formal complaints they later filed with the two police agencies, said they begged the officers at the scene to close their car doors so that their two pet dogs, both bulldogs, would not get out onto the highway.

The Smoaks' 17-year-old son, Brandon, said in his written account:

"All I could do is what they said. After I was handcuffed I realized that the front passenger door was open. My mom and I was begging to shut the door to the police officer next to me because we had two dogs in the car.

"One was a puppy, and the other was General Patton, a well trained dog that was scared and didn't know what was going on. Only if Officer Jeff Phann had shut the door or if they would have helped us by returning our wallet to us, instead pointing guns at us and taking a member of the family."

Here is Pamela Smoak's account of asking, after she was in handcuffs, for the car door to be closed:

"I asked the officer who was standing next to my son, about two feet from the open door to please shut the door so my dog wouldn't get out. I asked him several times, and he refused to shut the door.

"My dog then came out of the car and ran towards the officer with the shotgun and flashlight. We started yelling to please let us get him, don't shoot, he was only barking at the flashlight and jumping at the light. My son plays with him using a flashlight.

"This is when my dog was murdered. Anyway, this whole thing was a screw-up. A felony stop was made but no felony was committed."

Within an hour of the stop, the THP learned that no robbery had occurred and that James Smoak had merely lost his wallet. The family was released then.

Officials at the Tennessee Highway Patrol station here and at the Dept. of Safety in Nashville say the whole incident is being reviewed.

An internal investigation is also being made by the Cookeville Police Dept.

Published January 03, 2003 12:15 PM CST

COPYRIGHT ® 2003 Herald-Citizen, a division of Cleveland Newspapers, Inc. All rights reserved.

The information contained herein is protected by the copyright laws of the United States. The copyright laws prohibit any copying, redistributing, retransmitting, broadcasting or repurposing of any copyright-protected material.

• From the Officer's statement: "I yelled at the dog to 'get back' but it attempted to circle me to attack, so I felt that I had no other option but to protect myself. I fired once at the dog, instantly putting him down."

• From the Police Chief's statement: "It appeared to be a pit bull, and as it exited the car, it clearly approached one of our officers in a threatening manner. Our officer first tried to call the dog down, but after it kept approaching aggressively and started to circle him, the officer took the only action he could to protect himself and gain control of the situation."