Choking dog officer receives death threats

Choking dog officer receives death threats

www.chron.com

SAN MARCOS, Texas — A police officer who delayed a couple racing their dying dog to an emergency vet clinic while he wrote them a ticket has received death threats, the mayor said Thursday.

A statement issued by San Marcos Mayor Susan Narvaiz said Officer Paul Stephens was inappropriate and insensitive and that he has been disciplined, but the threats against the officer are "extremely unfortunate."

Narvaiz' statement did not elaborate on the threats. She did release some new details of the incident, including that a second officer had tried to help the choking dog, a teacup poodle named Missy.

"Without question, the situation was not handled very well by Officer Stephens. But the characterization of the story has led to death threats against the officer and his family," Narvaiz said.

Michael Gonzalez and Krystal Hernandez were allegedly driving 95 mph when Stephens pulled them over after midnight Aug. 5 on Interstate 35.

According to Narvaiz, Gonzalez first pulled over on an overpass. Using his patrol car public address system, Stephens asked him to go somewhere safer and Gonzalez drove another two miles at a "high rate of speed," despite the officer's lights and siren.

When he finally pulled over, Gonzalez pleaded with Stephens to let them get to the clinic.

The patrol car's dashboard camera showed Stephens telling Gonzalez: "It's just a dog. You can buy another one. Relax."

(visit the link for the full news article)


Related News Links:
www.keyetv.com

Well.....seems to be par for the course for police officers these days. "To serve and protect" my @$$!

Score another one for cops not wanting ANY co-operation from the general public.

And if you are responsible for the death of a police dog it's murder?!?!

www.chron.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

I was sympathetic until I read the words "teacup poodle," at which point the headline in my mind changed to "Choking rodent officer recieves death threats." Hopefully the family can use their lawsuit settlement money they're sure to receive to purchase a real dog... one which cannot be easily bullied, intimidated, or mistaken for dinner by a housecat, nor one which can choke to death on a single pea.

Edit to add: 95 MPH... they risked the lives of humans sharing the road with them over a damn dog. They deserved the ticket. If someone going 95 MPH ever causes a wreck I'm involved in and then produces a teacup poodle as the excuse for them traveling at a very dangerously high rate of speed, there will be a teacup poodle alongside the road flattened with the imprint of a size 16 Harley Davidson lug boot implanted across it's back.

[edit on 21-8-2008 by burdman30ott6]

reply to post by Grafilthy

And if you are responsible for the death of a police dog it's murder?!?!

Good point. Killing a police dog will get you life in prison. It's still considered killing a cop. There have even been places that wanted the death penalty for killing a police dog.

reply to post by burdman30ott6

95 MPH... they risked the lives of humans sharing the road with them over a damn dog.

But is 95 really all that fast on a Texas highway? It's not like they blasted through a school zone or something.

Friggin pig needs to be drug under a bus for a few miles.

People need to understand that some consider their dogs family or even as their children. Dogs have been awarded estate settlements even.

For an officer of the law to do this, the punishment should be considered the same as a person rushing their baby to the hospital.

Just relax, your baby girl is only 8 months old...you can't be that attached to it yet anyways....just have another one.

Screw that cop, he can give me my ticket when I get to the damn vets office.

Of course I wouldn't keep speeding on without notifying the cop as to why I'm speeding, but if he wanted me to wait while he spends 10 minutes writing me a ticket and running my name through the computer while my dog dies, he would have another thing coming.

Sure I'd probably get arrested, but again, they can damn well wait until my dog is at the vets.

To serve and protect my ***

I wouldn't have stopped. The cop can give me a ticket when I get there, especially if it's not far away and midnight. I would have blown past him and dropped a gear as soon as the lights came on. Homeboy can earn his money, as we all do. My animals are my family, I don't care if it's my little mutt or my lab, it is what it is and no cop would come between that. Now he's being shown zero tolerance in return for his own. Excessive? Yes. Will anything come of it? No.

Shows how narrow, and un-sympathetic cops can be. We are seeing psychopaths in charge who could care less about feelings, emotions, evaluating the situation to doing the right thing and serving the tax payer expecting proper service for there monies worth.

reply to post by burdman30ott6


Not only is 95 MPH on an open highway not necessarily dangerous (look at how Europe handles speed limits), but they also had a police officer with a siren blaring behind them.

Hell, if cops would use their sirens and lights more often, maybe THEY wouldn't be responsible for so many civilian deaths when driving like bats out of hell.

reply to post by Sublime620


Then there's the cop who beat me up last year. Thought he was the taco's cheese until he wiped out a family in a mini van with the town's new Dodge Charger Interceptor. Didn't even have his lights and sirens on that night, doing 95 in a 35 through an intersection.

Originally posted by burdman30ott6
Hopefully the family can use their lawsuit settlement money they're sure to receive to purchase a real dog...
[edit on 21-8-2008 by burdman30ott6]

Wow Mr Sensitive...and I suppose you can recommend to the family what else they need to change in their lifestyle...

After midnight on a highway. 65-75 MPH speed limits all through out the country. Given the time, speed, and circumstances, I'd say there is a extremely low chance of something happening. On the other hand, the officer was doing exactly what he should of. He didn't know the circumstances and obviously shouldn't have let them fly by doing 20 over, but his indifference and callous remarks showed what kind of man this servant of the public really is. All things considering, it could have been a different story.

Here is a note from a central Texas local. On the freeway IH-35 people Routinely drive in excess of 80 MPH. Slower traffic keeps right in this part. These folks just happened to have a reason for going that fast. Most of us are just commuting to work. These folks were trying to keep their dog from dying. Hayes county just happens to have some really shady police officers. I spoke about it once on one of the ATS mix threads about bad cop experiences. It was in Hayes county I was charged with assault by threat on an officer for remaining silent when an officer questioned me.

My mother and I are trying to get an animal ambulance in our city. Not only could it save the animals life, but it could also save a person's as well. When my 70 lb dog got sick( caused by over-vaccinating) I could not hardly get her into the car. My husband was at work so I was on my own. I hauled a_ _!!!Even though I was still careful, anything could have happened. If there had been an ambulance I could have called, maybe there would have been less damage done. My dog lived but she will probably not live much longer.I personally would not have stopped. I would have called 911 and told them what I was doing and for the cops to meet me at the vet. They could arrest me there which would be fine as long as my pet got the needed care.

reply to post by burdman30ott6


What an absolute moron you are. These people clearly loved this animal very much. I'm also disgusted about the officer insulting the guy for being bi-polar - "I can tell"... This redneck, ignorant piece of trash has absolutely no business being an officer of the law.

I had no idea ATS was so full of transportation design engineers! Wow guys, we should all exchange numbers or something so we can talk shop together.
In all seriousness, every single person who just made an uneducated and inexperienced comment about "the road can easily handle 95 MPH" pat yourselves on the back because you just looked like an ass. I design & analyze highways for a living... I am a licensed professional civil engineer and I am good at what I do. I can say with no hesitation that there is NO highway in the united states that was designed using AASHTO guidelines for 95 MPH.

I also made a little discovery. The OP tells a portion of the story, but leaves some VERY important details out. The dog was dead when the cop pulled them over, BTW
www.keyetv.com...

Mayor Narvaiz says Officer Stephens then approached the car and told the driver to step out. As Michael Gonzales stepped out of the car, he raised his hands and yelled at the officer, “she’s dead, she’s dead.”

The entire incident was caught on the patrol vehicle's dashcam. The officer can be heard saying, "It's a dog, okay? You can get another one. Relax."

The Texas State University students say they were rushing their dog, Missy, to a veterinarian after the animal choked on some food and stopped breathing. Missy died during the 17-minute traffic stop before she could reach help.

Another officer, who responded to scene, tried to help the animal but it was apparently already dead.

OK, let's play make believe. You who are crucifying this cop put yourself into his shoes given this information. You're a cop on patrol at midnight... after you've stopped berating yourself, calling yourself names, accusing yourself of police brutality & abuse of power (God do I ever know you people all too well after only 5 4 months at ATS), you notice a car driving erratically and flying down the interstate. After a brief car chase, the vehicle finally stops and a distraught man jumps out, and starts gesticulating and yelling "She's dead! She's dead!" at you. You can't tell me that the first thing that went through this officer's mind wasn't giant warning bells and the thought of "Oh my God, what is he talking about?" He probably was instantly on alert to find out A) what female was dead, B) Where is the body? C) Did this man kill her? The comment "Relax, it's just a dog" seemed to be as much said to calm himself down as to calm down the driver. After going through a million different "His girlfriend? His wife? His daughter? A hooker? Just some victim he grabbed off the streets?" scenarios, he probably went "WHEW! This guy is babbling about a dog, just a damn dog..." when he realized what was happening.

I will reitterate, A DOG. A (boy do I ever want to add the word 'God' before this) Damned DOG with a 14 or 15 year lifespan that CAN be easily replaced as it is a non-emotional, non-ethical, non-rational, non introspective, non-reasoning being and we're sitting here discussing the bastard like it was a human child or infant. Am I the only person here who sees how screwed up this is? Most of you are against the war in Iraq because of it's "human cost," yet some jagoff wants to do 95 on a freeway swerving and emotionally distraught all because an 8 lb dog is choking on a hummingbird bone, and him risking human lives is hunky dorey because "Dogs are like people's family, their children." Bullcrap! Good for this cop, very bad boo-hiss-boo to the spineless mayor of San Marcos for not patting the officer on the back and publically thanking him for doing his job and keeping things in perspective. The world needs more of that and less of the insanity.

Originally posted by LockwithnoKey
For an officer of the law to do this, the punishment should be considered the same as a person rushing their baby to the hospital.

Just relax, your baby girl is only 8 months old...you can't be that attached to it yet anyways....just have another one.

You just compared a freaking dog to the life of a human baby... why am I not shocked in the least that you displayed zero logic in considering that 95 MPH is an unsafe speed on any road not designed for 95 MPH and that those two inconsiderate animal lovers jeopardized innocent human lives by their actions?

[edit on 22-8-2008 by burdman30ott6]

reply to post by burdman30ott6


burdman30ott6, the fact that you scientifically know that highways aren't built for safe travel at 95 MPH means very little here, and your insensitivity towards the driver in this case is sickening.

They had a reason for speeding as fast as they were. They had a reason for placing human life in jeopardy. Whether or not it was a good reason is an argument you cannot win. There is a large portion of the human population that sees a family pet as being part of the family, and as part of the family its life is worth putting above others.

The officer was in the right for stopping the car, but was in the wrong for showing no consideration for the situation. The death threats towards the officer are completely ridiculous and exposes people who take love of animals to genuinely unsafe levels. Those slinging death threats obviously do not care for human life. If your upset over this, write a letter! Stage a protest!

If anyone here thinks they would have kept driving, just imagine how ugly this situation would have gotten. What the officer should have done? Provide an escort to the vet, then write the ticket.

This happens all to often. This needs to be handled for good.
My cousin was dying, he was in an ambulance and my uncle and aunt were following. THey got pulled over, the cop started to write a ticket.

My uncle had to get irrate and tell the cop he was just going to have to arrest him because he was going to the ER. Then he sped off.

Im sorry but cops are being flat out retarded in this sense. If someone
or someones pet is dying, getting them help is far more important than the speed limit. And cops that do this need to lose their jobs immediately.

Alot of people are getting animals and humans mixed up. If you were in the back of an ambulance I guarantee that it would not be going 95mph, even with the lights and sirens blaring and you were dying.

Unsafe is unsafe, regardless of the circumstances.

reply to post by capgrup

If you were in the back of an ambulance I guarantee that it would not be going 95mph, even with the lights and sirens blaring and you were dying.

You can not possibly guarantee that, because it happens all the time. Ambulances, police cars, fire trucks, they all speed. Police cars like to do it with their lights out even, and blow through red-lights blacked out at high speed. I know two ambulance drivers personally, and they certainly do speed, especially if they are running code.