Warning
TRIGGER HAPPY
Moment innocent dog is shot dead by cop who had climbed garden fence looking to bust mystery drug deal
DISTURBING footage captures the moment a man's pet dog was shot dead by a cop in his garden.
Officer Javier Algarin climbed into Charles Dempsey's back yard following reports of a drug deal happening in the area.
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The bodycam video - filmed in Rochester, New York, shows the moment the cop entered the garden in broad daylight - then fired two shots at Labrador Telsa as she ran towards him barking.
Seconds later, heartbroken Charles is seen staggering into the garden, sobbing as he pleads with the shooter: "What is the matter with you? Why did you do this?"
But Algarin merely points his gun at Charles and shouts: "Stand back. Go get your dog."
Charles, visibly traumatised, then responds by screaming: "Get out of my yard. Why did you do that to her? What is wrong with you? She would've been fine."
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Now Charles has sued the city for damages relating to the shooting in October last year.
He said he's been left traumatised following his ordeal, which his ten-year-old daughter also part-witnessed.
His lawyer, Elliot Shields told the : "My client and his daughter are traumatised. "They saw this happen.
"There are other ways to handle a situation where a dog is running at an officer. Why is the first option to shoot the dog?"
Why did you do that to her? What is wrong with you? She would've been fine
Charles Dempsey
The video, as well as video from nine other officers who were present at the scene, was released earlier this year by judicial order after Dempsey and Shields filed an open-records lawsuit to get them.
Shields, who won a preliminary victory in another suit against the city for release of police video, said he believes Tesla's case may mark the first occasion on which the city surrendered unredacted police footage in response to a Freedom of Information request.
According to the democrat and Chronicle, police swarmed Charles' yard to "disrupt the suspected sale of illegal drugs by people who had congregated there".
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Police videos obtained by Dempsey and Shields through their open-records request and shared with the news site show two men being taken into custody.
One surrendered to police in the yard behind Dempsey’s property, the other in a yard next door.
Neither man was found holding illicit substances, according to Shields.