Berkeley cops kill pit bull while serving Hayward warrant

Article Last Updated: 04/22/2005 03:54:47 AM

Berkeley cops kill pit bull while serving Hayward warrant
Owner says officer acted rashly when he shot dog; internal affairs to investigate
By Kristin Bender, STAFF WRITER

HAYWARD — A Hayward man is grieving the loss of his pit bull, shot and killed by Berkeley police while they were serving a search warrant at his house Wednesday.

The death of 50-pound Rocky spurred dog owner Frank Cisneros to complain to the Berkeley police internal affairs division, which will investigate his charge that police acted too aggressively and without regard for his family.

A group of officers with a search
warrant went to the Hayward home in the 23000 block of Jorgensen Lane about 9:15 a.m. Wednesday looking for evidence — possible spray paint cans and pens — related to an ongoing felony vandalism and graffiti case.

Police are investigating 60 to 70 vandalism and tagging incidents that occurred in Berkeley earlier this month and had the warrant because they had reason to believe the Hayward house may somehow be linked to the case.

Cisneros,
35, said his younger brother was arrested for a graffiti-related offense in Berkeley in 1996. The brother does not live at the house, and police did not have a warrant for his arrest.

Cisneros, who was not home when about eight Berkeley officers and one Hayward officer came to his door, said his wife was headed out the front door to work when police arrived, and the dog began to squirm out the door. She tried to control him


Advertisement
Click to learn more...


by the collar, he said.

"Had they given her 10 seconds to pull him in the house, everything would have been fine," Cisneros said.

But police tell a different story.

"As the front door opened, the dog came out ... barking and growling, and ran toward (the officer)," said Hayward Lt. Reid Lindblom.

Berkeley police spokesman Joe Okies said there is no indication in the police report that anyone tried to "physically restrain"
the dog.

Okies said the dog came outside and charged at an officer.

"The dog got within two feet of the officer, and the officer shot the dog twice," he said. "Basically we went there to serve a search warrant, and officers were confronted with a vicious pit bull and had to protect themselves."

Dr. Carl Singer, a Hayward veterinarian, confirmed that Hayward Animal Control brought the dog to him, and it had died from two
gunshot wounds to the chest and stomach.

Staff writer Matt O'Brian contributed to this report.