Friday, June 12, 2015 1:07:44 PM
SWAT Team Raided Family and Shot Their Dog Over Unpaid Utility Bill
June 8, 2015 1:36 pm
Imagine having a SWAT team break down your door, or smash through your window even when you had committed no crime at all. Now imagine that to add further injury, they shot your dog for good measure. Are you mad yet? Now imagine that they did this all over an unpaid utility bill.
That’s right, last Tuesday, a South County woman filed a federal lawsuit stating that her dog was shot by a SWAT team, during a raid initiated by an unpaid utility bill.
Angela Zorich states in the lawsuit that St. Louis County Police SWAT raided her home in April of last year, killing her 4-year-old pit bull, Kiya.
The police say that the reason for the raid was to “check if her home had electricity and natural gas services.”
As impossible to believe as this might sound, read the court documents below for yourself: this is all too real.
Zorich v St. Louis County
“This is an example of police overreaching and using excessive force to get a family out of their house,” Kenneth Chackes, the attorney who represents Zorich, explained.
Here’s the run-down of Zorich’s story, explained in the lawsuit, and summarized by the Riverfront Times:
On April 25, 2014, St. Louis County Police officers came to her house. Her son cussed at them. They inspected the home’s exterior and placed a “Problem Properties” sticker on the front window.
On April 28, Zorich called the police to follow up on the matter. An officer told her they were investigating the home for failing to have natural gas or electric service, as required by county ordinance. She admitted that the gas had been shut off, but said the claim about electricity was “bullshit.” The officer hung up on her.
Zorich called back and spoke to a different officer. This one sounded angry that he’d been cussed at by her son three days earlier. Zorich tried to set up an inspection for a time when her husband would be home. The officer told her that was fine, but that the investigation would continue in the meantime.
The next day, around 12:41 p.m., Zorich was at home with several family members and her pit bull, Kiya, when a St. Louis County Police Tactical Response Unit burst through the door without knocking, according to her suit. The unit had at least five officers with M-4 rifles, supported by at least eight uniformed officers.
The officers entered so quickly, Zorich’s suit alleges, that Kiya didn’t even have time to bark. A tactical officer fired three shots into the dog, and the dog’s “bladder and bowels released and she fell to the floor.” The dog “was laying on the floor in her own waste and blood struggling to breathe. She had a gaping hole in her chest.”
Zorich claims the officers kept trying to talk to her about the natural gas, but she was focused on her dog, whom she’d raised as a puppy and who (she says) had “never shown aggression to any person.”
At one point in the raid, Zorich alleges, an officer pointed his firearm at her son’s head and said “One word, motherfucker, and I’ll put three in you.”
Zorich was taken into custody and later given a notice of violation from the Housing Inspector. It listed citations concerning her siding, guard rail, screens, window glass and deck.
When she returned home, she found beds overturned and items that had been on her shelves thrown to the floor.
Zorich has filed suit against St. Louis County and two officers, Corey Zavorka and Robert M. Rinck.
She says that they unlawfully seized items and inflicted emotional distress by killing her dog. The suit also classifies this as unlawful retaliation.
Stephen Ryals, an attorney representing Zorich with Chackes, says that an increasing number of plaintiffs are filing suit against police when they shoot family pets during SWAT raids.
“It’s a relatively recent liability that’s gaining traction,” he explained.
This is all the more necessary when the raid is conducted for so spurious a reason as an allegedly unpaid utility bill.
If you agree that this sort of raid should be illegal and that the officers should be punished, help us get the word out about this story. Like, share, comment, tweet or retweet. Raising awareness is one of our strongest weapons in this fight for justice!
(Article by Jackson Marciana; h/t to Riverfront Times)
http://countercurrentnews.com/2015/06/family-raided-by-swat-over-unpaid-utility-bill/
June 8, 2015 1:36 pm
Imagine having a SWAT team break down your door, or smash through your window even when you had committed no crime at all. Now imagine that to add further injury, they shot your dog for good measure. Are you mad yet? Now imagine that they did this all over an unpaid utility bill.
That’s right, last Tuesday, a South County woman filed a federal lawsuit stating that her dog was shot by a SWAT team, during a raid initiated by an unpaid utility bill.
Angela Zorich states in the lawsuit that St. Louis County Police SWAT raided her home in April of last year, killing her 4-year-old pit bull, Kiya.
The police say that the reason for the raid was to “check if her home had electricity and natural gas services.”
As impossible to believe as this might sound, read the court documents below for yourself: this is all too real.
Zorich v St. Louis County
“This is an example of police overreaching and using excessive force to get a family out of their house,” Kenneth Chackes, the attorney who represents Zorich, explained.
Here’s the run-down of Zorich’s story, explained in the lawsuit, and summarized by the Riverfront Times:
On April 25, 2014, St. Louis County Police officers came to her house. Her son cussed at them. They inspected the home’s exterior and placed a “Problem Properties” sticker on the front window.
On April 28, Zorich called the police to follow up on the matter. An officer told her they were investigating the home for failing to have natural gas or electric service, as required by county ordinance. She admitted that the gas had been shut off, but said the claim about electricity was “bullshit.” The officer hung up on her.
Zorich called back and spoke to a different officer. This one sounded angry that he’d been cussed at by her son three days earlier. Zorich tried to set up an inspection for a time when her husband would be home. The officer told her that was fine, but that the investigation would continue in the meantime.
The next day, around 12:41 p.m., Zorich was at home with several family members and her pit bull, Kiya, when a St. Louis County Police Tactical Response Unit burst through the door without knocking, according to her suit. The unit had at least five officers with M-4 rifles, supported by at least eight uniformed officers.
The officers entered so quickly, Zorich’s suit alleges, that Kiya didn’t even have time to bark. A tactical officer fired three shots into the dog, and the dog’s “bladder and bowels released and she fell to the floor.” The dog “was laying on the floor in her own waste and blood struggling to breathe. She had a gaping hole in her chest.”
Zorich claims the officers kept trying to talk to her about the natural gas, but she was focused on her dog, whom she’d raised as a puppy and who (she says) had “never shown aggression to any person.”
At one point in the raid, Zorich alleges, an officer pointed his firearm at her son’s head and said “One word, motherfucker, and I’ll put three in you.”
Zorich was taken into custody and later given a notice of violation from the Housing Inspector. It listed citations concerning her siding, guard rail, screens, window glass and deck.
When she returned home, she found beds overturned and items that had been on her shelves thrown to the floor.
Zorich has filed suit against St. Louis County and two officers, Corey Zavorka and Robert M. Rinck.
She says that they unlawfully seized items and inflicted emotional distress by killing her dog. The suit also classifies this as unlawful retaliation.
Stephen Ryals, an attorney representing Zorich with Chackes, says that an increasing number of plaintiffs are filing suit against police when they shoot family pets during SWAT raids.
“It’s a relatively recent liability that’s gaining traction,” he explained.
This is all the more necessary when the raid is conducted for so spurious a reason as an allegedly unpaid utility bill.
If you agree that this sort of raid should be illegal and that the officers should be punished, help us get the word out about this story. Like, share, comment, tweet or retweet. Raising awareness is one of our strongest weapons in this fight for justice!
(Article by Jackson Marciana; h/t to Riverfront Times)
http://countercurrentnews.com/2015/06/family-raided-by-swat-over-unpaid-utility-bill/
I am now quite sure that 'Tragedy and Hope' was suppressed although
I do not know why or by whom. ~ C.Quigley ~
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