PARKING TICKETS & DOGS

[Shizamus]

Councilwoman criticizes action by constables
They shot three dogs, two fatally, when they went to serve warrant in Allentown for unpaid parking tickets.


By Joe McDonald
Of The Morning Call

May 12, 2003

Saying ''there is a doozy of a problem here,'' Allentown Councilwoman Gail Hoover expressed outrage Sunday over the shooting of three dogs, two fatally, by constables serving a warrant on a man who had not paid parking ticket fines.

''These were parking violations,'' Hoover said Sunday. ''This was not Charles Manson who got out and we had to capture. This is a guy who didn't move his car so the street cleaner could get through.''

Hoover said she intends to speak with city police officials, Mayor Roy Afflerbach and state Rep. Charles Dent today about the shooting and find out the status of the investigation. She wants to talk with Dent because constables are certified on the state level by the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency.

According to Hoover, there is something wrong when shots are fired over parking tickets.

''It's just a system that has broken down somewhere here,'' said Hoover, who visited the home at 312 S. Franklin St. over the weekend.

Constables were serving a warrant on Jeremiah Hartman Thursday when they shot the dogs. Hartman remained in the county prison Sunday, unable to post the $3,000 bail set by District Justice Donna Butler.

The dog that survived the shooting remained in a veterinary hospital awaiting surgery to remove the bullets, Hoover said. But the surgery won't be done until the vet receives a $2,000 down payment, said Hoover, who is trying to raise the money through donations.

''Something has to be done,'' Hoover said. ''I don't care if he had a hundred parking tickets. Thank God one of those shots didn't ricochet and hit one of the people .

''It's a lousy parking thing and it turns into 11 shots being fired off in a house full of people and kids. That scares me.''

There were three children in an adjoining room and other residents nearby when the shots were fired.

Police Chief Inspector David M. Howells said city detectives had told him that the investigation had been completed and that charges were not going to be filed unless new information surfaces.

Howells said investigators found no evidence that the homeowners tried to sic the dogs on the constables, or that the constables were reckless or not justified in shooting the dogs.

But Hoover said she does not understand why the constables did not wait on the outside porch until the dogs were secured inside the house before they entered.

[pickenup]

I would like to see the follow up (more information) on this one.

[kaylan1]

Sounds like a poor judgement call, and excessive, unreasonable force to me.