A Chicago family is outraged after a police officer ran into their backyard and killed their 10-year-old dog while searching for a robbery suspect.
“The police ran in my yard, opened the gate and shot my dog,” Terry Taylor, the dog’s owner, told a local CBS affiliate. “It’s like I lost a family member.”
Police were chasing an armed robber who had held up a man early Monday morning in Washington Park. Police spotted the suspect and chased him until they believed they lost him in Mr. Taylor’s yard, the station reported.
That’s when Castro, an Italian Mastiff, charged at the officers, causing one officer to open fire, police said, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
Police failed to catch the suspect, who was hiding under a staircase just a few feet from where the dog was shot.
“He came from under the porch,” Mr. Taylor’s son, DeMarkus Southern, told the CBS affiliate. “He had the gun in his hand, he was backing up talking to me like this, and he is telling me, ’I apologize for the police killing your dog. I seen the whole thing.’ He put the gun back on his hip, proceeded down the street.”
Mr. Southern said the suspect is now free because police botched the investigation. No one was in custody for the robbery Tuesday morning, police said.
The Independent Police Review Authority is investigating the shooting, the Sun-Times reported.
• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
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