After officers shot an aggressive dog and its owner on the afternoon of Sunday, November 9, the SFPD has released bodycam footage of what led up to the shooting, and how the suspect threw a plastic bottle at officers after they shot his dog.
We knew that SFPD officers shot a dog and the dog’s owner on Sunday, November 9, around 4:30 pm, at Market and O’Farrell streets. And now we know that the dog’s owner who was shot was 29-year-old Trustin Eaton, and neither he nor the dog was seriously injured in the shooting. But as required by law when they shoot someone, the Chronicle reports that SFPD had their community meeting and released the video of the incident, which is seen below.
The video is more than 45 minutes long, so let’s just skip through to the salient points.
Two SFPD officers are approached by a skateboarder who said he’s been bitten by a dog, creating the wound that was actively bleeding seen above (this guy is interviewed at the 16:50 mark of the video, the biting itself is seen at the 18:30 mark). Shortly after, we see footage of the same dog charging at a couple of joggers. The dog, a husky-German shepherd mix, is doing a great deal of running around unleashed at O’Farrell and Market streets.
The dog’s owner Eaton is finally approached by SFPD at the 19:35 mark, and he is clearly not keen to talk with them. His dog is quite hostile toward the officers too. Officers tell him he is being arrested and detained, and attempt to physically restrain him. But Eaton just ignores them and tries walking away, while the dog is charging at the officers and barking aggressively while baring its teeth. Officers called in more units, and one officer even pulls his gun on the dog.
“I will blow your dog away,” the officer says.
“He’s just saying ‘Hi,’” Eaton insists.
“Get over here or your dog’s going to get shot,” the officer continues.
And that is exactly what happens. The officer shoots the dog at the 21:40 mark, and you hear the painful sounds of a dog wailing from a gunshot wound. Eaton is apparently also shot in the left leg during the same exchange, charges at the officer who shot his dog, and is seen throwing a plastic bottle at that officer. SFPD equates the throwing of the plastic bottle with “being assaulted.”
A swarm of officers arrives and arrests Eaton at Fourth Street, at which point, his dog bites an officer. Eaton was taken to the hospital, his dog was taken to a vet.
The video will cause some of us non-SFPD civilians to wonder if the police were a little too eager to start threatening to shoot the dog (they start making this threat immediately), and whether the hurling of a plastic battle really amounts to a legitimate assault of an officer.
Per the Chronicle, “The incident is under investigation by the SFPD investigative services detail, SFPD internal affairs, Department of Police Accountability and the San Francisco District Attorney’s independent investigations bureau.” These bodies tend to make judgements that are pretty sympathetic to SFPD officers.
Neither Eaton nor the dog has life-threatening injuries. Eaton was charged with making threats to an officer, resisting an officer, being responsible for an unprovoked dog bite, having an unleashed dog, and possession of narcotics paraphernalia. He is not currently listed as being in SFPD custody anymore, and the current whereabouts of the dog are unknown.
Related: Unprovoked Dog Bite Leads to Officer-Involved Shooting of Man, Dog in SF’s Union Square [SFist]
Image: SFGovTV via Youtube
