Jury Awards $1.26M To A Family Whose Dog Was Shot By Police

A jury gave an award of $1.26 million to a family from Glen Burnie after deciding that a police officer wrongly shot and killed their dog 6 years ago.

According to the family’s attorneys, Officer Rodney Price killed Michael Reeves’ dog named Vernon. The shooting was described as unnecessary and senseless.

This verdict sends a strong message to the police about the expectations of the community, attorney Cary J. Hansel said in a statement. Their duty is to serve and protect not only humans but for pets as well.

The Anne Arundel County officials refused to comment. An internal investigation was launched in 2014 and it was an internal investigation wrongly blamed Price and believed that the dog was very aggressive. According to a spokesperson for the police, Price still works in the department.

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Vernon was shot and killed on February 1, 2014. Price claimed that while he was at the Reeves home, the dog attacked him. However, the jury decided that the dog didn’t attack the officer and that the shooting violated Michael’s constitutional rights, Hansel said. He also mentioned that the crime was committed with gross negligence.

The police said that Price shot and killed Vernon while he was investigating a burglary. The officer was searching for witnesses in the neighborhood around 4 p.m.

According to the police, Price entered a home in the Lombardee Circle in Glen Burnie, when Vernon confronted and attacked the officer in the front yard. Then, Price shot his gun twice and killed the dog.

After a few days, the Reeves family said that the officer who killed their dog came to explain to them what actually happened. But, the family wasn’t involved in the burglary investigation which brought Price into the neighborhood. Then, the Chesapeake Bay retriever started barking and running toward the officer which prompt the shooting.