Alabama: Police officer who shot and killed attacking pit bull files $10,000 defamation lawsuit

ALABAMA -- The Tuscaloosa Police Department officer who shot and killed a dog in his mother's driveway earlier this month filed a lawsuit last week against his mother's neighbor, accusing her of slandering him in an attempt to see him fired from the department.

Mike Azwell, the officer who shot a dog that he said charged at him as he dismounted from his motorcycle in his mother's driveway on Nov. 3, is seeking $10,000 for her alleged defamation.

In his complaint against her, Azwell's attorney Mark Morrow said Deborah Bosch has made slanderous, libelous and defamatory accusations to law enforcement dispatchers that resulted in injury to Azwell's reputation in the community, embarrassment, humiliation, severe emotional distress, loss of sleep, emotional pain and mental anguish.

According to the complaint, Bosch owns a black Labrador that jumped up on Azwell's mother and pinned her to a wall in April. The complaint says Azwell's mother is less than five feet tall, weighs less than 100 pounds and suffers from cerebellar ataxia, which affects her balance, leaves her prone to falls and means unattended dogs are a great risk to her health.

The complaint says Azwell's mother called him in April to ask his advice about Bosch's lab being loose. Azwell, who has served with the Tuscaloosa Police Department for 13 years, called Bosch's nephew Jamie Banks, who is also a TPD officer. Banks alerted his aunt that the Labrador was loose, she adjusted the dog's shock collar to keep him on her property, and Morrow said in the complaint that Azwell's mother has not had any more trouble with Bosch or her dog.

The basis of the officer's complaint comes from a call Bosch made to the police department when Azwell shot a stray dog on Nov. 3. Azwell shot a large, brown dog that he described as a pit bull and Labrador mix four times after it charged him in his mother's driveway. An internal departmental investigation said Azwell was justified in shooting the animal.

Bosch called the police department dispatcher later that day to voice her displeasure at the dog's death. According to Azwell's complaint, Bosch said the dog was not aggressive and never so much as growled at him. The complaint says she told the dispatcher that Azwell had threatened to kill her dog before and complained that he spent too much time at his mother's house, which tax payer dollars should not fund.

Azwell complains in his lawsuit that Bosch's statements are not true and make him out to be dishonest at best and a criminal at worst. He alleges that Bosch made the statements she made with a malicious intent to defame him and/or cause him to be fired.

The lawsuit was filed in the Tuscaloosa County District Court Friday. Azwell is seeking $10,000 in compensatory and punitive damages and the payment of all of his court costs from Bosch.

Bosch could not be reached at the number listed for her.

(AL.com - Nov 18, 2013)