Utah Police Release Bodycam Video of Officer Shooting at Pit Bull

Jack Phillips
8/31/2018
Updated:
8/31/2018

Police in Ogden, Utah, released a bodycam video of an officer shooting a dog earlier in August, and officials have cleared the officer in question.

The officer asks “is the dog nice?” as he is approaching the home. The dog, a pit bull or pit bull mix, then starts barking and lunges at the officer. The officer then retreats and fires his weapon. The dog received ”superficial injuries,” said police.

In a statement, the Ogden Police Department wrote on Aug. 31 that the officer was dispatched to the home on a request from the Utah Division of Child and Family Services after an investigator got a report of “unsafe conditions for the children in the home and requested officers be present as she attempted to contact and interview a number of adults reported to be living there.”

Ogden Police Officers J. Beck and J. Grimes then met with the investigator near the home, officials said.

And as the officers entered the home’s driveway, a large pit bull approached them in an aggressive manner from the side of the truck. The dog was attached to a cable that was tied to the truck’s tailgate, but police said the cable was slack.

“The officers stopped and called out to an adult male in the driveway, asking if the dog was friendly. The adult male answered that the dog was not and he would take it into the house,” said Ogden police.

However, before the man could grab to the dog, the dog attacked Grimes and made “continued physical contact” with Grimes before trying to bite him.

“Grimes was attempting to get away from the dog but could not because the dog continued the attack,” said police, adding that he “drew his duty firearm and fired one round.”

It said, “After being struck by the bullet, the dog continued the attack until reaching the end of the cable, then ceased attacking and retreated.”

Fox13 reported that the officer who fired the round at the dog was cleared.

Police said that Ogden Animal Services Officers were called to the scene to take custody of the dog.

“The owner of the dog placed a muzzle on the dog and then Ogden Animal Services Officers transported the dog to a Veterinary Hospital where the dog was treated for superficial injuries and then returned to the owner,” according to police.

Police in Ogden, Utah, have released a bodycam video of an officer shooting a dog earlier in August, and officials have cleared the officer in question. (Ogden Police Department)
Police in Ogden, Utah, have released a bodycam video of an officer shooting a dog earlier in August, and officials have cleared the officer in question. (Ogden Police Department)

‘Most Abused Dogs on Earth’

Animal rights group PETA stated that pit bulls are “the most abused dogs on Earth.”

“Pit bulls are left at shelters in record numbers—and since they are difficult to adopt out, reputable shelters (that don’t slam the door in the dogs’ faces) are finding that they must euthanize more pit bulls and pit bull mixes than all other dogs combined,” the group said.

Jack Phillips is a breaking news reporter with 15 years experience who started as a local New York City reporter. Having joined The Epoch Times' news team in 2009, Jack was born and raised near Modesto in California's Central Valley. Follow him on X: https://twitter.com/jackphillips5
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