Evansville Police Officer Shoots Dog, Owner in Jail
By: Zakk Gammon
Updated: October 19, 2012
A dog is recovering after being shot and his owner is in jail. It happened after a fender-bender investigation went wrong.
A police officer shot a dog after the owner allegedly tried to throw a can of dog food on the officer. It happened Thursday evening in the 1900 block of Waggoner Avenue. An officer says he was responding to an accident, when he heard someone yelling for help.
"It kept lunging at me and I was in no position to run anway," said Quentin Friday. Friday says his aunt was involved in a small fender-bender just down the block from his home at the corner of Waggoner and Weinbach Avenue.
While the responding officer was writing up the police report, Friday went to check on his aunt.
"(The) dog's sitting there trying to bite me," he said. Friday says he then started yelling for the officer to help. "I did what I had to do, I guess," he said.
According to the police affidavit, the officer asked Bobbie Cunningham to restrain her dog. She apparently refused. After another exchange with the officer. Cunningham allegedly grabbed his arm and tried to throw a can of dog food on the officer.
"At that point she had committed battery of an officer and he tried to arrest her," said Evansville Police Sgt. Jason Cullum.
Sgt. Cullum says the dog lunged, and the officer shot the dog. After the dog got back up, the officer shot him again.
"This incident really highlights the danger for an officer, how he can go from doing such a seemingly tedious task of writing a report to all of a sudden, he's discharging his firearm. It happened in a split-second.," Cullum said.
Friday says this isn't the first time he's had problems with Cunningham.
"One minute she's nice and the next she's cussing and raising all kinds of hell," he said. And while Friday hates to see an animal be hurt, he praises the police department for keeping his neighborhood safe.
"I feel sorry more for the dog than I do her," he said. "The dog shouldn't have been like that. I like pit bulls."
Cunningham faces a long list of charges, including Battery of a Law Enforcement Officer, Criminal Recklessness, Disorderly Conduct and Resisting Law Enforcement. The dog was taken to an animal hospital where he was put down.
A police officer shot a dog after the owner allegedly tried to throw a can of dog food on the officer. It happened Thursday evening in the 1900 block of Waggoner Avenue. An officer says he was responding to an accident, when he heard someone yelling for help.
"It kept lunging at me and I was in no position to run anway," said Quentin Friday. Friday says his aunt was involved in a small fender-bender just down the block from his home at the corner of Waggoner and Weinbach Avenue.
While the responding officer was writing up the police report, Friday went to check on his aunt.
"(The) dog's sitting there trying to bite me," he said. Friday says he then started yelling for the officer to help. "I did what I had to do, I guess," he said.
According to the police affidavit, the officer asked Bobbie Cunningham to restrain her dog. She apparently refused. After another exchange with the officer. Cunningham allegedly grabbed his arm and tried to throw a can of dog food on the officer.
"At that point she had committed battery of an officer and he tried to arrest her," said Evansville Police Sgt. Jason Cullum.
Sgt. Cullum says the dog lunged, and the officer shot the dog. After the dog got back up, the officer shot him again.
"This incident really highlights the danger for an officer, how he can go from doing such a seemingly tedious task of writing a report to all of a sudden, he's discharging his firearm. It happened in a split-second.," Cullum said.
Friday says this isn't the first time he's had problems with Cunningham.
"One minute she's nice and the next she's cussing and raising all kinds of hell," he said. And while Friday hates to see an animal be hurt, he praises the police department for keeping his neighborhood safe.
"I feel sorry more for the dog than I do her," he said. "The dog shouldn't have been like that. I like pit bulls."
Cunningham faces a long list of charges, including Battery of a Law Enforcement Officer, Criminal Recklessness, Disorderly Conduct and Resisting Law Enforcement. The dog was taken to an animal hospital where he was put down.
