GRAPHIC CONTENT from YouTube Publisher: “SWAT and police are waiting on people to come out of the house, when a guy pulls up to record the scene. His dog runs out the car while the cops shoot in defense.”
A video posted on YouTube shows how fast a scene can turn from calm to violent. Leon Rosby, 52, was capturing video of a police activity scene in a residential neighborhood in Hawthorne, California.
Hawthorne Police Lt Scott Swain said police officers were warning Rosby to turn down the music in his car because it was distracting police officers about one-half block away working on a report of an armed robbery.
Two police officers walked down about two lots to confront Rosby, whose car was parked near the corner of an intersection with music playing loudly. Rosby immediately attempted to secure his dog in his vehicle with windows open. He then walked toward the police and submissively turned around with his hands behind his back, as if to facilitate handcuffing. The police immediately handcuffed Rosby, and the dog became agitated. The dog eventually lunged out the car window and charged the police officers. A third police officer approaches and draws his handgun. Initially, the dog backed off, but on a subsequent lunge, the third police officer fired four shots at the dog.
‘I know it’s the dog’s master, and more than likely not going to attack him, (but) we’ve got a guy handcuffed (Rosby) that’s kind of defenseless. We have a duty to defend him too,’ Swain said.
Rosby was detained overnight in jail on suspicion of obstruction of justice and released at 5:00 a.m. the next day. Rosby says that police have initially told him that they would not return his dog’s body to him.
Hawthorne (population 84,293) is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California.
