Roommates who sued a Maryland county Monday declare law enforcement officials illegally entered their condo with out a warrant, detained them at gunpoint with out justification and unnecessarily shot their pet canine, which was left paralyzed and in the end euthanized.
The canine, a boxer combine named Hennessey, didn’t attack the three officers who entered the condo earlier than two of them shot the animal with their firearms and the third fired a stun gun at it, in line with the canine house owners’ federal lawsuit.
The lawsuit seeks no less than $16 million in damages over the June, 2, 2021, encounter, which began with Prince George’s County law enforcement officials responding to a report of a canine chunk at an condo advanced the place the 4 plaintiffs lived. What occurred subsequent was captured on video from police physique digital camera and a plaintiff’s cellphone.
Two officers went to the plaintiffs’ condo to search for the dogs reportedly concerned within the biting incident. A upkeep employee gave police a grasp key to enter the condo after no person answered their knocks. The third officer arrived as the opposite officers entered the condo with their weapons drawn.
Two of the plaintiffs have been of their bed room when the officers entered. One of them yelled by means of the door that police had no proper to be there, however one of many officers stated they didn’t want a warrant as a result of they’d “probable cause,” the swimsuit says.
The lawsuit claims the officers panicked and fired their weapons on the canine after it adopted one of many plaintiffs out of the bed room and approached its major proprietor, Erica Umana.
After the taking pictures, the officers handcuffed the roommates and left them in police automobiles for roughly one hour earlier than releasing them from custody.
The plaintiffs — Umana, Erika Erazo Sanchez, Dayri Amaya Benitez and Brandon Cuevas — are suing the county and the three officers.
Umana informed the Washington Post in 2021 that she had pleaded for someone to assist her wounded canine.
“I was just begging them, begging them,” Umana stated. “They just had no remorse.”
The county provided to compensate Umana for her veterinary payments if she agreed to chorus from publicly talking in regards to the taking pictures, however she rejected the supply, in line with her lawsuit.
Police and county officers didn’t instantly reply to requests for touch upon the lawsuit’s allegations.
“This lawsuit is yet another tragically foreseeable outcome of a failed and biased system of policing in Prince George’s County, to which County leadership has continually turned a blind eye,” the swimsuit says.
The swimsuit says the three officers have been placed on paid administrative depart whereas the division investigated the incident. A division investigator accused two of the officers of “conduct unbecoming an officer” for getting into the condo with out a warrant, however the third officer was cleared of wrongdoing, the swimsuit says.
The swimsuit accuses the officers of utilizing extreme power, falsely arresting the plaintiffs and violating their constitutional rights towards unreasonable searches and seizures.
William “Billy” Murphy Jr., a lawyer for the roommates, represented the household of Freddie Gray, a Black man whose demise in police custody in 2015 led to riots and protests within the metropolis of Baltimore. Murphy stated the Prince George’s County law enforcement officials sued Monday engaged in “outrageously flagrant misconduct.”
“For this to be happening in 2021 blows the mind,” Murphy stated. “It is in the DNA of the founding of America that you can’t do this. You can’t get a key to somebody’s house and just walk in there without getting a search warrant.”
The swimsuit claims there was a decades-long sample of police misconduct in Prince George’s County, which abuts Washington, D.C. It cites a string of incidents through which county officers have been accused of utilizing extreme power, together with the January 2020 killing of an unarmed Black man, William Green.
Green was handcuffed in a police automotive when he was shot and killed by Michael Owen Jr., who was a 10-year veteran of the police division. Owen was arrested on a homicide cost and has a trial beginning begin this week. The county agreed to a $20 million settlement with Green’s household, which additionally was represented by Murphy’s legislation agency.
Malcolm Ruff, an legal professional who additionally represents the plaintiffs in Monday’s lawsuit, stated Prince George’s County law enforcement officials “have no fear of reprimand, and they think that they are going to get away with treating people the way that they did.”
“And that’s because of the history of how Prince George’s County has handled misconduct for decades,” Ruff added.
