OHIO -- SWAT officers searching an Akron residence Tuesday morning for a home invasion suspect shot and killed a family’s dog.
Summit County sheriff’s deputies declined to identify the suspect.
But William Congrove, 48, said his son, Kyle, was questioned last week about a home invasion in Green and provided a DNA sample.
At about 7:30 Tuesday morning, SWAT officers from the sheriff’s department and Akron police executed a search warrant of Congrove’s house on Kling Street. William Congrove said he was in a bedroom holding his 4-year-old pit bull Mugsy by the collar when an armed officer entered.
Congrove said the officer ordered him to release the dog. When Congrove refused, fearing his dog would be shot, he said, the officer shot the canine twice in the head, killing it.
“They shot the dog right out of my hand,” Congrove said. “He was my companion. There was no reason to shoot him.”
Deputies dispute Congrove’s version of the shooting, said Bill Holland, a sheriff’s department spokesman.
“The information we’re getting right now doesn’t exactly match what [Congrove] is saying,” Holland said.
He said he could not elaborate because of the ongoing investigation, but if someone has control of an unruly dog, deputies usually tell the person to “put the dog away.”
In this case, Holland said, it appears “the dog was posing an immediate threat to officers.”
“Even if a dog is being held, if there’s snarling dog in your face that’s being held, all the person has to do is let go of that dog and he’s in your face,” he said.
Congrove said he does not know the whereabouts of his son. He said SWAT officers caused about $8,000 in damage to his home, including a bullet hole to a bedroom wall. He said his dog was shot from about four feet away.
Deputies say Congrove’s son and another man are a suspect in the aggravated robbery and aggravated burglary of a Green woman’s home last month. A third man is in custody.
The attack happened Oct. 29 inside the woman’s home on Sewell Avenue. Earlier in the day, she was visited by one of the suspects in response to an ad she posted on Craigslist, deputies said.
The 43-year-old woman told police she was awakened and assaulted with a handgun. Her purse, cell phone, cash and electronics were stolen. She sustained minor injuries from the assault, deputies said.
(Ohio.com - Nov 23, 2011)
