Video shows Terre Haute cop kicking HERO dog that scared off burglar
TERRE HAUTE, INDIANA: A police officer from the Terre Haute Police Department has received a lot of flak online after footage from a doorbell camera showed him kicking a dog at least four times for reportedly scaring off an intruder on the premises. However, the department has defended the cop by saying the clip shared by the dog’s owner was misleading.
A woman identified as Haley Richey on her Twitter account has claimed that the cops arrived at her house after a burglary call was made. She also said that the incident happened when she and her family were at work. However, by the time police officers reached, her dogs had managed to tackle the burglar and scared him off. However, instead of praising the pets — a Boston terrier and another pit bull type dog – the unidentified officer screamed, “I'll kick your f**king a**. Stupid dog.”
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Taking to Twitter on Tuesday, November 30, Richey shared the footage and wrote: “Yesterday evening while my family and I were at work, someone broke into my home. My dogs ran the intruder off. This was the response shortly after a neighbor called. My home needed help and all it received was hurt. #AnimalCruelty.”
Yesterday evening while my family and I were at work, someone broke into my home. My dogs ran the intruder off. This was the response shortly after a neighbor called. My home needed help and all it received was hurt. #AnimalCruelty pic.twitter.com/0tnNbSulod
— Haley Richey (@haleyjrichey) November 30, 2021
Her video garnered over 700k views and a lot of criticism targeted the police officer. One such response was, “A week before retirement, my police officer husband was sent to the hospital after a dog bite. He didn’t shoot the dog. He didn’t kick the dog. He didn’t have this kind of uncontrollable rage. There’s something seriously wrong with this guy.” Another one stated, “Dog was actually doing the job protecting the home, the job that police officer should also be doing, and he kicks the dog. There IS NO context or excuse for that. NONE. I already called a couple #’s. I hope they have a real shitty day today fielding the righteous outrage.”
A week before retirement, my police officer husband was sent to the hospital after a dog bite. He didn’t shoot the dog. He didn’t kick the dog. He didn’t have this kind of uncontrollable rage. There’s something seriously wrong with this guy
— JL (@Jerlynkle) December 1, 2021
Dog was actually doing the job protecting the home, the job that police officer should also be doing, and he kicks the dog. There IS NO context or excuse for that. NONE. I already called a couple #’s. I hope they have a real shitty day today fielding the righteous outrage.
— bodybalancer🧢 (@dbodybalancer) December 1, 2021
“Let me guess how this is going to turn out: ‘Officer Chambers, after serving his paid suspension, was cleared of any wrongdoing by the department. His actions were justified but we'll use some of your tax money to placate the homeowner anyway. Not taking questions at this time,’” a tweet added.
Let me guess how this is going to turn out:
— Red Rollins (@RedRollins1) December 1, 2021
"Officer Chambers, after serving his paid suspension, was cleared of any wrongdoing by the department. His actions were justified but we'll use some of your tax money to placate the homeowner anyway. Not taking questions at this time."
However, on Wednesday, November 1, the Terre Haute Police Department said the cop’s action was not inappropriate and cruel. A statement released on its Facebook page read, “We have begun an investigation into this matter after providing all private video, body camera video, and reports to the prosecutor’s office for an independent review consistent with policy. While this investigation continues, there is some general information that we can provide to correct some of the misinformation being disseminated. Officers were not dispatched to this residence for a burglary?”
The post continued that the cops were not called at the address for burglary, but for an aggressive white pit bull. It said, “On November 29, 2021, at approximately 7:05 P.M., the Vigo County Central Dispatch received a call complaining of an aggressive white pit bull in the 1700 block of Ohio Street that had been charging at everyone that goes by. RP advised that he has bitten a child and a mailman in the past and is very very aggressive." The reporting person also advised that this is an ongoing problem.”
“Any claim that officers were responding to a reported burglary is untrue,” the statement noted, before adding: “While the conduct in the video has been determined by the prosecutor to not constitute a crime by the officer and the body camera footage is in sharp contrast to the original social media narrative, we will still be objectively evaluating the conduct to see if it violates any departmental policies or directives. During this process, the sergeant will be placed on administrative duty assignment.”